


Sadly, nothing

by HorizonIndigo



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, F/F, F/M, M/M, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, future smut, this actually has a plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 12:56:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5049436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorizonIndigo/pseuds/HorizonIndigo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After king Asgore died and the six human souls disappeared along with the human child, Toriel took back her place as Queen and tried to keep hope alive. Alphys is now looking for a new way to break the barrier, Undyne helping her, and Papyrus commands the Royal Guard. </p><p>It wasn’t long until another human appeared.</p><p>Edit: this work will be comprised of 15 chapters, 1 epilogue, and 2 extra scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On a Patch of Golden Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! this is my first fic in FOREVER, please be patient with me. I have about 10 chapters planned out (if not more). This is reader/sans but there can be some reader/papyrus if you want? hmu, send a comment, follow me on tumblr (horizonindigo) and thank you for reading! :)
> 
> Also... things don't get interesting 'til chapter 2 or 3. Sorry.

The sound of a distant melody makes you wake up. You’re lying on a patch of golden flowers.

There’s light above, but it’s so far off you wonder how you survived. With a quick look you realize you’re still complete, no limbs missing, and no broken bones either. What a joke.

Looking around there’s nothing but the naked walls of this cave, and lying a bit away there’s your backpack. You wonder idly if anything inside broke with the impact, while you get up and snatch it. It seems your cellphone took quite the beating, the glass broken but it still turns on when you press the button.

You decide to sit down for a moment. You’re still quite dizzy, and while your bones seem to be unbroken you wonder if the same truth applies to your skull. That sound, that song, going on and on with the same tune… as your dizziness gets better, it fades away. Was it inside your head all this time?

“Well, this is new”

You turn around, heart beating in your chest, to find a flower smiling before you. What the- maybe your head DID crack a bit.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey, Flowey the Flower! You must to be new to the Underground, aren’tcha?” said the flower, smiling with an innocent expression.

“I…I just woke up here”

“You must be so confused! Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do” it winks at you, and you can feel chills running down your spine.

You get up holding your backpack to your chest. Something is really wrong here, and it’s not just ‘cause you’re talking with a flower. I mean, you’ve done weirder stuff, haven’t you? No, it’s because, like every time you meet someone new, you can feel inside who they really are. And you don’t like this flower.

If only your legs weren’t trembling so hard you could run away.

“W…What?”

“Here we go!”

There’s something shining under your nose. You think it might be your cellphone, but it’s not in your backpack. There’s a bright pink heart glowing on your chest.

“See that heart? That is your SOUL. The very culmination of your being!” What is happening oh god what kind of hell is this.

“Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LOVE”

You look to your feet and find a yellow health bar, stating 20/20. At the left side says LV 1. You’re now in a videogame. Just what you needed. Did you die? Is the afterlife some kind of sick joke? You did hope it was something better.

“You want some LOVE, don’t you?” Maybe this is the hell you deserve. “Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!”

“Down here, LOVE is shared through…little white…”friendliness pellets”. Are you ready? Get as many as you can!”

You stepped aside before the pellets hit you, and Flowey squints at you. You can see an exit to the right, but you would have to run past the flower.

“Huh? Did you miss them? Ok, here we go again, buddy”

You evade the pellets again, but you don’t think you can run. Is it a matter of time before a videogame-flower kills you?

"RUN. INTO. THE. PELLETS” Flowey shoots once more, clearly annoyed, and you evade the pellets one more time, though they almost hit you.

You fall to your knees, your head is swimming once again. You just survived a great fall, you shouldn’t be moving this much, but it’s not like Flowey is giving you a break. Moving up your head you look at it again, but its face is not…happy….

With the creepiest grin you’ve seen on anyone, Flowey looks at you “YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON HERE, DON’T YOU?” You have no idea what its talking about. “YOU JUST WANTED TO SEE ME SUFFER”

Pellets surround you, looking sharp and deadly. You knew this flower was bad news.

“DIE” Flowey laughs maniacally, as you close your eyes and clutch your backpack waiting for the impact.

But it never came.

You open your eyes to see Flowey running away, and there’s a white dog munching on a bone not far from where he stood.

“I WOULD’VE GOTTEN THAT VILLAIN IF IT WASN’T FOR THIS DANG DOG ONCE MORE!!!” ****

Two skeletons stand at the exit of the cave. You blackout.

 ——————————————-

You wake up on a bed this time. There are bandages on your head, and your shoes lay at the bottom of the bed. Who did this for you? How did you end up here? All the questions that rise up in your head seem meaningless for now. You’re in a warm bed, someone caring for you, what else could you care for now? You spend some more time lying around, breathing deeply and trying to piece out what you can remember. A flower. Almost dying because of it, actually. A white dog munching on a bone. Two skeletons.

And a health bar. It seems you’re in some kind of videogame hell, with health points and attacks and LOVE or something similar. Then, you should take this as a video game, right? But, what kind? Is it an adventure game, a shooter, a platform game…you don’t know that much about games, you admit. You’ll have to figure it out on the run.

You decide to stand up and look at the room you’re in. There are no windows, and the only source of light is what little comes from under the door. At the foot of the bed there’s a chest full of toys, you also find a box with children shoes in many sizes. On top of the dresser there’s an empty frame. And, in the middle of the floor, there’s…a plate of spaghetti. Against your better judgement, you try some of it. The flavor is indescribable.

Leaving that aside and putting on your boots, you step into the hall. You can hear some noises coming from your right, but you decide to investigate a little before meeting whoever saved you from little devil flower. 

On your left there are two empty rooms, with big beds but nothing more. You can’t help but feel you’re being observed. Every time you turn around there’s a shadow you see out of the corner of your eye. It’s creeping you out, but you don’t think Flowey followed you in here. How could a flower travel through a wooden floor? How could a flower move at all? Videogame hell sure is confusing. At the end of the hall there’s a big mirror and you can finally see yourself. You look terrible. You head is covered in bandages messily wrung around, your long brown hair is everywhere, and there’s dirt all over your tee. You better change into something clean, but, where’s your backpack?

It’s time to face the music and find out who your savior (or your captor?) is.

Down the hall you find some stairs and further there’s a small dining room with a hearth. At the end there’s a door behind which someone is singing, and it sounds like they’re cooking. A big green chair sits by the fireplace, an open book lying on it. Checking the title, it seems to be something about physics. There’s a fire in the hearth, glowing a bright blue color. Entranced, you approach it, extending your arm to feel its warmth.

“just because its blue doesnt mean it wont burn you, you know?”

You jump in place and turn around to see a smiling skeleton. There are glowing lights inside their empty eye sockets, which seem to be their eyes. They’re short, wearing a white tee and a blue jacket with ketchup stains.

“im not as good with fire magic as Tori, this fire will burn you if you get too close, buddy” they say as they give you a hand and pull you from the fireplace. You feel like freaking out, your hands might be shaking a little, but there’s no bad feeling about this skeleton. Only a deep, deep recognition of…something. You feel like you might have something in common with him.

“feeling all right, kid? running a femur? name is sans, what about you?”

You’re about to answer when a tall skeleton barges in knocking the kitchen door, carrying a big pot with them. They look extremely proud, wearing a white apron over some strange silver armor.

“SANS THE SPAGHETTI IS-HUMAN!!!!! YOU’RE AWAKE!!!!”

They leave the pot on the table and run over to hug you, crushing your bones. They let you go after a moment and pose dramatically.

“I WAS WORRIED FOR YOUR HEALTH, WEAK HUMAN, AFTER I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, RESCUED YOU FROM A HARMLESS LITTLE FLOWER!! BUT NOW I CAN SEE, IN YOUR EYES, YOU’RE IMPRESSED!! AT MY MAGNIFICENT FORM!! YOU MUST ALSO BE WONDERING, WHO COOKED THE SUBLIMELY DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI YOU FOUND IN YOUR ROOM?? WELL, YOU WILL FIND I AM NOT ONLY BRAVE AND EXTREMELY POPULAR, BUT A WELL VERSED SPAGHETTORE”

You didn’t understand half of what they said. Spaghettore? Why did this guy yell so much? But, if he made the spaghetti from your room…well, now you wonder where you’re going to find anything edible. At least they look friendly.

“Thank you for saving me, Great Papyrus” you decide to oblige him, as you don’t feel this Papyrus is any threat or has bad intentions. Quite the opposite, actually, you feel comfortable in his presence.

He looks at you with shining eyes, blushing (how can a skeleton blush? Oh, forget it, nothing makes sense in videogame hell). He makes you sit down at the table, going on and on about his greatness and his mastery of the culinary arts. He is…kind of endearing, actually. Sans sits in front of you, eyeing you suspiciously but never losing his easy smile. You’re served a big plate of spaghetti, feeling your stomach churn in protest.

“I CAN HEAR YOU’RE HUNGRY, HUMAN. FEAR NOT, THERE IS ENOUGH SPAGHETTI FOR YOU TO EAT AS YOU LIKE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS COULDN’T LEAVE OUR HUMAN FRIEND-GUEST GO HUNGRY”

“t-thank you…” You guess there’s no going back now. You’ve got to eat the thing.

“hey bro, can I have some?”

“SURE, I MADE ENOUGH FOR EVERYBODY. JUST BE SURE TO LEAVE SOME FOR THE HUMAN, SANS!!”

So, they’re brothers? Sans makes eye contact with you as he starts eating up Papyrus’ spaghetti. It’s like he’s saying he’s in this with you. Seeing his support, eating this monstrosity with you, fills you with………

Sadly, nothing.

 

You’ve been received by two friendly skeletons. They took care of your unconscious self, made you food, treat you kindly. You look down your plate, move the spaghetti around a bit, and put down your fork.

“HUMAN? IS SOMETHING WRONG?”Papyrus sounds truly concerned, and Sans is eyeing you with caution, you can almost hear his voice in your head ‘don’t hurt him, please’, but you don’t say anything as you leave the place, just glance at them briefly. There’s a door you think leads outside, and besides it you find your backpack.

Leading out, you see the place you were in is a small house made of deep purple stone, like everything else surrounding you. The windows are high and broad. There are red leaves on the floor, you shudder feeling a breeze coming through a passage behind you.

Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the Ruins, gives you…………

 

 

 

Nothing.

 

SAVE ERROR.


	2. Snow cubes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're kind, maybe too kind. You decide to go with them, to the place they want to take you.
> 
> A little flower finds a smiling child in the dark. 
> 
> THIS IS THE REAL SECOND CHAPTER sorry about before

“that was very rude of you”

You hadn’t even left the inner patio, having just passed an old dark tree, when you see him in the entrance before you. He got his hands inside his coat’s pockets, staring at you with the same grin you saw before. This time, there is no light in his eyes.

“I’m sorry…” You shrink yourself, looking down. You know how you hurt people, you do this all the time, and they’ve been so kind to you. Even trapped in this virtual hell you find kind people only to let them down. You’re playing with the hem of your tee, tears coming to your eyes. He sighs deeply, and his demeanor changes.

“i know Papyrus’ cooking is barely edible, but he’s been getting a lot better. he was so excited to meet another human, he tried one of the recipes Tori taught him. buying all the ingredients was a lot of truffle”

That makes you snort an ugly laugh, though it dies quickly. He doesn’t look angry anymore, when he turns around and calls you to follow him.

“i thought you might want some fresh air. well, as fresh as it can be inside the ruins” You’re walking behind him, following through rooms filled with levers and buttons on the ground. It looks dangerous, but he walks around without a care. “this is the place where monsters lived when we were first trapped in the underground.its now abandoned, except for a few fellas who like to chill here. its quiet, good for naps” He winks at you, and takes your hand.

“let me show you something cool” You let him guide you, and in a blink you appear in a different room. The sudden change has you a bit afraid, but he’s still holding your hand. You look at him and his wide grin, how creepy it looked before, but you don’t feel in danger. He points at the ceiling, and you look up.

The dark purple walls stop high above, giving in to raw stone, and at the end you can see a patch of sky. The stars are shining tonight, but that’s not what calls your attention. The cave is full of small shadows moving around. “What are those?”

He takes his hand from yours and puts a flashlight in its place. You fumble with the buttons, manage to turn it on, and point the light to the opening above. That makes all the little creatures follow the trail of light and you find yourself covered in them in a matter of seconds.

“Butterflies!” you gasp. They’re the size of your face, wings in deep blue fading to purple. You dropped the lantern, the butterflies following the source of light, but some still cling on to your clothes, softly opening and closing their wings. The one standing on your leg hops onto your hand, and you take a closer look. It’s moving a little, tickling your hand. You giggle with delight.

“i thought you might like them. you were looking blue, and I thougt I might just wing something ” He keeps the puns running as you play with the butterfly. You’re smiling.

“i did wonder if my plan would suck, what if you were afraid of them? i thought, I moth try tho”

 You giggle at that pun, and think one up.

“Butterflies don’t really… _bug_ me”

He actually laughs at your lame pun. You’re feeling much better.

When you two return to the house in the ruins you find Papyrus sleeping on the chair next to the chimney. You feel really bad for leaving earlier, but there’s nothing to do now, except to make up for it. Tomorrow you’ll try to make amends with him, maybe try some of his special recipe again. It still spooks you some to be around skeletons, but Sans has been so sweet to you… you’ll try to befriend Papyrus. Even if they surely deserve much better than you.

You go to sleep in the room you woke up in a few hours ago, leaving sans tucking in Papyrus with a fluffy blanket. He says tomorrow he’ll tell you about monsters, and the Queen, and what’s to happen from now on. He bids goodnight, and you leave with a little smile.

Your shoes are off, your dirty tee in your backpack, and you’re nice and warm inside the comfy bed. You took your phone with you, setting an alarm in a few hours. You’re a heavy sleeper, and you don’t want to make them wake you up. Your phone's battery is low, but it’ll last if you don’t use it much. Can you charge it somewhere here? There seems to be electricity, but you haven’t seen any sockets on the walls. You can’t resist to flip through your pictures before falling asleep, though you know it’s not a good idea. You spend an hour looking at old pictures, reading texts, and crying. You fall asleep and dream of a hole in the mountain, so deep you can’t see the bottom from where you stand.

 

 

“HUMAN? SANS, I THINK THEY MIGHT BE DEAD!”

“nah, look at their chest. theyre breathing”

Your consciousness returns before you even think of opening your eyes. You listen to the brothers for a while, Papyrus thinks you’re dead or dying, and Sans tries to distract him with puns. His efforts are not gladly welcomed. You feel a bony hand touching your forehead, then holding your wrist, then shyly shaking your shoulders. You finally open your eyes.

You’re welcomed with a face full of crying skeleton.

“wow, you sure dont get tired of sleeping”

Groaning, you sit up and rub your eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I…” You remember you don’t have a shirt on, picking up the sheets to cover you so fast you shove Papyrus off the bed where he sat. Your face is burning up. “Please get out” You voice loudly, avoiding their gazes.

“HUMAN! I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED, BUT I SEE YOU JUST ENJOY NAPPING LIKE SANS. MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T TAKE AFTER MY SLACKER OF A BROTHER” He says, wiping tears from his eyes “YOU MIGHT GROW UP TO BE A LAZY BONES TOO. THANKFULLY, WITH MY EXAMPLE, YOU CAN ACHIEVE GREATNESS! I WILL GLADLY SHOW YOU THE WAY, AS IT IS MY JOB AS HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD TO INSPIRE OTHERS TO BECOME BETTER!”

You really don’t like him calling you lazy. You can feel your blood boil, something in your guts burning, you can almost hear _them_ saying the same things again. Useless. Hopeless. Lazy. Good for nothing. You tighten your grip on the sheets and give Papyrus a bad eye. He doesn’t seem to notice, as he’s still ranting.

“hm, maybe we should let them change, give them some privacy”

Papyrus stops mid rant, hands on his hips and inflated chest, and looks between Sans and you. He seems to understand something is not right, and sheepishly bides goodbye commending you to get ready for your departure, as it’s already late morning. Sans follows after him, turning around at the door with some kind of look on his face.

“its cold outside, and theres snow where we’re going. dress up”

Your anger is dying down, deflating, as you’re left alone. Now there’s only disgust in your mouth, and the ever present dull ache inside your chest. Usually you would feel guilty for letting your emotions run so wild, letting your anger show, but you’re too numb to care for that. You shouldn’t be caring about that anymore, but then you didn’t plan on waking up in the underground. You didn’t plan much at all, which is evident from the array of items in your bag that make little sense to carry around. Even the clothes you have make little sense.

Looking for something clean to wear, that might protect you from the cold, you finally decide on a purple flowery dress and dark leggings, with a pink sweater and your ever present boots. Luckily, you carry your red coat with you. It’s as good as it gets. You take off the bandages on your head, combing your hair and tying it into two braids. Inside the pocket of the coat you find the necklace your mother gave you and you had thought lost. It’s a silver chain with an upside-down tear shaped moonstone. Holding back some tears, you put it on.

When you come out Sans is waiting for you, and you expect to follow him but he just stands there. Maybe he wants to tell you something? You wait for him to talk, but he doesn’t seem in a rush. The light in his eyes is gone, and his skull has a faint blue shade it didn’t have before. Thinking he might not be feeling well, you reach and touch his shoulder. “Sans, you all right?” That seems to bring him back.

“yeah, we are leaving now” He looks away, and moves your hand off him in a gentle motion. “youre ready? Papyrus is waiting downstairs” He starts walking and you follow, to the flight of stairs you saw before.

“Where are we going? You’ve been terribly kind, but I still don’t know what you want of me”

“We’ll explain in the way there. I see you trust us, and that could have been a bad move before, but now that Tori passed the ‘human-hospitality’ law, there’s nothing to fear down here” He thrusts something your way, and you quickly catch it. It seems to be a bagel. “many monsters don’t like the law, but after the last human most are happy enough with it”

You’re awfully hungry, and you start eating the bagel (it seems to have egg and cheese in it) while you listen to sans, walking down long corridors. So there have been humans before, in this video-game cave world? It doesn’t surprise you, if you think of it. There were many rumors surrounding Mt. Ebott, and many people have disappeared when hiking. _Of course you knew this._ But you never suspected a monster society, with an actual Queen, passing laws concerning protocol with humans that may arrive. The weirdness of this all would feel overwhelming if it wasn’t for the cold you felt inside. So, there are monsters, and it’s a videogame… all right… whatever.

“What were the laws before? Did you use to kill humans?” At your question Sans stops for a second, the air cold between you. You fucked up. You think of saying something, just to avoid seeing that creepy expression of his again. Before any of you could say anything, sounds of heavy steps distracted you, as Papyrus rounds the corner and beams at you two.

“LET’S GO! WE MUST MAKE GOOD TIME TO REACH THE CASTLE. UNDYNE TOLD ME THE RIVERPERSON IS ON VACATION, WE’LL HAVE TO WALK ALL THE WAY THERE. AND WITH THIS ARMOR…” he seemed unhappy at that. “BUT! IT’S AN HONOR TO CARRY THE ARMOR OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AS HEAD OF IT, I MUST FULFILL MY MISSION!”

“i guess it is… heavy work”

“SANS!”

You three start moving forwards, and you reach an area with a patch of grass before a big entrance that looks familiar. As you’re going through the gate, Sans tells his brother “shouldn’t we introduce our new pal to how things work around here?”

“YES! I… ACTUALLY FORGOT. WHAT WITH ALL THE SPAGHETTI COOKING, AND THEN YOU TWO GOING FOR A WALK AT WEIRD HOURS. WE MUST EXPLAIN THE HUMAN ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND!”

There’s a long path of snow before you, in the middle of a pine forest. You put your hands inside your pockets, and listen to the skeleton’s words.

 

 

You’ve been walking for a while, boots sinking lightly in the soft snow, careful of stepping on ice, thinking of this world you’re now in. Monsters are trapped behind a barrier, unable to escape, holding on to vague hopes. The late King Asgore killed six humans, but died at the hands of the seventh that came through, and the other souls disappeared along with the hopes of monsterkind. Now the Queen Toriel (who looked like a clone of Asgore, in Papyrus’ words) has made mandatory to protect every human that arrives, and treat them as a guest. That is why, in this very moment, both skeletons are escorting you all the way to the castle. Toriel said to bring forth any human so they be introduced to the kingdom and provided with hospitality. Maybe this hell isn’t so bad.

“BUT UNDYNE WAS SO MAD WHEN THE NEW LAW ENTERED, SHE SUPLEXED SO MANY BOULDERS THAT WATERFALL’S ROADS ARE STILL IN RENOVATION. SHE RESIGNED THEN. DO NOT BE SAD, HUMAN, SHE SEEMS HAPPY NOW THAT SHE’S HELPING ALPHYS FIND A WAY TO BRING US OUT!”

“and bench-pressing kids”

“YES, THAT TOO. IT’S GOOD TO SEE HER SO CHEERY AFTER SHE LEFT THE GUARD! SHE EVEN ADMITTED ME BEFORE SHE RESIGNED, AND I ENDED UP AS THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! THERE IS ONLY ONE MEMBER, SADLY, BUT THERE’S NO NEED FOR MORE!, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL COMPLETE THE QUEEN’S ROYAL MISSION!”

You can’t help but chuckle at their words. Listening to Papyrus, you realize all his bravado is nothing more than an act. He’s rather sweet, and seems inoffensive. The way he talks about Undyne lets you see he really cares about her, and about others too. You’re glad he’s the one to escort you through this travel, and he saved you from that evil flower too. You hope you can make up to him for leaving his spaghetti uneaten.

Sans walks behind you two, and though you can feel his stare he’s got his eyes closed every time you look back. How can a skeleton close… forget it.

You’re telling them now how this is the first time you’ve seen snow, and how you used to dream of playing in it someday. Something hits your back, and you glare at Sans’ cheeky grin. The war has begun. You’re throwing snowballs from behind a tree, trying to take shelter but Sans’ snowballs come out of nowhere, and Papyrus is screaming about a snowball tax. You make a snowball cube (as good as you can) and run into the road, showing Papyrus your creation.

“See! It’s not a snowball, there’s no tax for it” You throw it at him. “Now I can hit you without paying! Hahaha”

“wow bro they hit you _square_ in the jaw”

“SANS! THAT WAS NOT A SQUARE, IT WAS A CUBE!” he says, groaning, but he gives in and starts throwing snowcubes at Sans and you. Of course, none hit Sans, and you have a face full of snow. You’re having so much fun, you don’t remember when was the last time you laughed this much.

A familiar, evil laugh sounds from behind.

There was a thick vine directed to your chest, but Sans moved you out of the way before it hit you. Looking up, what was once a little flower now is what the actual fuck is that

“Holy shit”

That _thing_ laughs again. It’s about your height, and has multiple faces, which are all flowers. It has several vines moving around menacingly, adorned with thick thorns. Is Flowey on steroids?

“G I VE M E T  H A TH U MA  N”

Papyrus is in front of you in a second, blandishing two long bones that look pretty sharp on their ends.

“YOU TRIED TO HURT MY NEW FRIEND! AND THE ROYAL GUEST, TOO! WHICH, ARE THE SAME PERSON, ANYWAY”

Flowey’s faces are contorting in grimaces of pain and glee. This is very disturbing, you’re glad for Sans’ hand on resting protectively on your arm. “P A Py Rus… G rEa T PAP yrUS… I T s M E… Y ou RF r I END”

Papyrus seems to flinch at Flowey’s words, and the hand on your arm tightens. “YOU… YOU’RE NOT MY FRIEND! THAT LITTLE FLOWER WOULDN’T HURT ANYBODY! YOU’RE THE SAME ONE WHO TRIED TO KILL THEM YESTERDAY, AREN’T YOU? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!”

They’re now fighting, Flowey swinging its vines around wildly, and Papyrus sends white and blue bones their way, cutting the vines that get too close to him with the bones in his hands. Your heart is beating fast, you’re afraid for the tall skeleton, but he seems to be pretty tough. After a vine has been completely cut off, Flowey screams in rage, sending out the pellets you saw before, only now they’re bigger and look sharper. Papyrus takes the hit, but his chest plate blows off with a hit of a vine and the pellets break some of his ribs.

You’re screaming and running to him, when you see the same pink glow from before reappear on your chest. Standing next to Papyrus, you’re now in the battle.

“Y ES Hu MA n… F I G H T  M E”

You want to help Papyrus, but you can’t take your eyes off your opponent. You’re beginning to freak out, hands trembling, when Sans appears ahead of you and sends countless bones into Flowey. He turns his head around, and there’s only a bright blue light in his left eye. His face is contorted in fury.

“take Papyrus”

Without any second thoughts you turn to Papyrus, help him stand up and try to run. You don’t go very fast, as he’s dragging most of his armor with him. The sounds of the battle behind make your heart race but your body is growing tired, and not far away you both fall to your knees on the snow, near a precipice.

“Papyrus, we have to take off your armor, we need to go”

He’s breathing heavily, jaw clenched in pain, holding his broken bones. “I CAN’T LEAVE MY BROTHER”

You’re getting desperate, as the sounds of the battle are growing closer, flashes of light going around the two of you, and the never ending laugh of the flower. You try to take off his armor by force, but he stands up and limps back to the fight. You intend to follow him, but when you turn around the sight leaves you frozen in place. There are giant skulls appearing out of nowhere, shooting beams that Flowey keeps evading.

One of the vines takes hold of a skull, and as it is firing it points at your direction. There’s only white, a loud crack, and then gravity takes hold of you.

 

 

It hasn’t been long, you decide, when you wake up with adrenaline pumping through your veins. It seems like snow broke your fall, despite being a big one, and you’re left unscathed. Funny how it keeps happening. Looking around, the precipice stands behind you and there’s nothing but forest in any other direction.

Being lost in a beautiful forest, the white snow gleaming, fills you with……..

 

Nothing but despair.

 

 

 

SAVE ERROR.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's pretty hard to write in another language. Tell me if you spot anything weird, as of today I have no beta. 
> 
> WELL THINGS ARE GETTING INTERESTING NOW  
> I first planned to leave the fight for another chapter, but I think it ended up dull without some movement, and now the fight is in chapter 2. I wrote way more than I had planned.
> 
> As you can see, both Papyrus and Sans are feeling amicable towards You. I'm planning on Sans/Reader, but there can be Papyrus/Reader if you guys want. There's room in the story for it. Leave a comment!
> 
> This fic has been received so well I'm FLABBERGASTED, thank you all for your kudos and comments, thank you! Hope you're in for a wild ride ;)  
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Mounds of Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your life keeps being saved by mystical forces, but others have not such luck.  
> You've got to find the town, and find out if your skeleton friends made it out alive.

The magic inside the underground bestows the monster world with a life of its own. It’s far from a regular cave. There are flora and fauna magical and unique, there seems to be some kind of weather that allows snow and gusts of wind to exist, and though there is no sunshine there’s light coming from god knows where, bouncing on the walls of stone and making the snow glow. All around, the world looked dim like a cloudy day, but now that light seems to be fading and shadows engulf the forest you’re getting nervous.

Shivering in your coat, boots sinking into the snow, you’re pretty sure you’re about to freeze to death. You never handled well the cold, you were always getting sick at every change of season, and the clothes you have on you are little shelter from the cutting wind, shaking you like a leaf.

When you started walking you thought of Papyrus, how bad his broken ribs looked –if they hurt terribly on a human, you couldn’t imagine how it’d feel on a being made purely of bones- and wondered if he survived the explosion, but now you’re too cold to think of anything. You even thought briefly of Sans, his feral expression and his brutal attacks, how surprised you were at the image of such a chill buddy striking Flowey with everything he had. You hope they’re all right.

That’s what happens when people get close to you. If it’s not because of you, they end up hurt anyways. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the end. You can’t walk much further, your forces are dying and your limbs are giving up. Even your eyes are closing. You think you’re either dying or falling asleep, because you can see a golden light and smell homemade food. You stop. You rub your eyes, this can’t be true, you must be dreaming- There’s a cabin.

From the windows a golden light makes its way through the snow, and smoke is rising from a chimney. There’s no way, it wasn’t there two seconds ago, you’re definitely hallucinating. The door opens, you can’t make out the figure that comes out but it’s calling to you. There’s no way you’re letting this go, dying in the snow sucks.

You run to the cabin with the last of your forces, and the tall figure moves to let you inside. It’s a messy place, not what you would expect of a wooden cabin. There are machines all around, with colorful buttons and levers, three different screens on the wall and a trap door at your feet. By the fireplace there’s a sleeping bag with a blanket, and by the wall a gas stove where a delicious smell comes from.

“Take care. Please, forget me”.

When you turn to meet the owner of the cabin, they’re gone.

After a good night of sleep, you wake up to the sound of birds singing outside. You’re reluctant to leave the comfort of the warm cabin, but you’re worried about your skeleton friends. Maybe they’re worried about you, too. That’s what ultimately prompts you to leave the warmth under the blanket, though you’re feeling a little sick, putting on your boots and coat. You eat some more of the quiche you found last night on the oven, wondering about the mysterious figure. So far, you’ve made out they’re some kind of scientist or investigator, and a real good cook. This quiche is delicious. Last night after you ate you fell asleep in a manner of seconds, so now you use this time to snoop around. The mysterious hasn’t returned from wherever they went, so you better be quick before they do come back.

Looking closely the machines have layers of dust on them. They look like really old computers, the kind you saw in silent movies. There’s no electricity in here, so there’s no way to turn them on. The place is a mess of dusty metal and scraps of paper. You pick up one paper from a table, but you can’t make out what the symbols mean, or maybe it’s just the handwriting. All this dust is making you sneeze now that you’re moving stuff around, and you’re aching to leave. Before you reach the door, you trip on the trap door you forgot was there. On the floor, your eyes fall right into a black notebook, hidden under one of the machines. With some effort you manage to reach it, and you open it up once it’s on your lap. It’s full of the same symbols on every other paper in here, but there are strange drawings among the notes. At the bottom of the first few pages, there are actual words written in a funny handwriting.

You decide to keep the notebook, putting it in your backpack, and leave the cabin at last. You walk a few meters before it occurs to you to leave a note for the owner of the cabin, thanking them for their hospitality and saving your life. Just like its owner, once you turn around, the cabin is gone.

With a full stomach the world looks brighter, or so they say, and you wish you had taken the rest of the quiche with you so the world looked brighter now. With the daylight you can see the precipice you fell from, and try to follow along knowing that road leads to the nearest town. Perhaps Papyrus and Sans are there. You hope. Before long you’ve reached a frozen lake, not knowing what to do next. Would the ice break if you try to walk across? You’re not taking any chances. You’re turning to the left, thinking to circle the ice, and some weird reindeer is staring at you.

Its horns are covered in decorations, candy canes and little gift boxes, even a tiny white dog. You try to look harmless, when its gaze becomes irritated.

“You’re gonna make fun of me, aren’t you?”

Ok so not a reindeer. A monster. You’re left speechless, but not for long. A small yellow monster runs straight into your legs, making you both trip.

“Y-YO! A human!”

“Kid, stay away from them. You know Undyne is looking for them, don’t you?”

You sit up and look at the monster on your lap. They’re wearing a sweater with stripes, smiling at you, looking so excited they can barely stay still.

“I know! The whole town knows there’s a new human, yo! But they said they were lost, that’s why Undyne is coming! They want to find them!”

You stand up, helping the little one stand too. “Hey, uh, kid? How does the town know I was lost? How did Undyne know?”

“The skeleton called her, yo! The tall one!” Oh god, Papyrus. “Is he all right? He was hurt, do you know if he’s ok?” You ask the monster kid, standing on your knees to reach their height.

“I, I think he was hurt. I couldn’t see much, the adults came together to help, but I heard that Undyne was on her way! She’s the coolest! So I thought, yo! If I find the human, I’ll get to meet Undyne again!”

They were bouncing all round, running excitedly in circles, chanting about Undyne’s greatness. You think it’s adorable, but you’re still worried for your friends. “Kid, listen, I need to get to the town. Maybe we can surprise Undyne?” the kid stops running, and looks at you with shining eyes.

“Woah! That’s, that’s a great idea! We’ll surprise her, yo! But…” they look aside, grinning apologetically “I don’t know how to go back. I had never gone this far into the woods” they sigh “my parents are gonna kill me…”

“The main road is not far away” you both turn around to the reindeer monster, who had stayed there watching you “There’s a way uphill, which will take you to Greater Dog’s station”

The little monster was running around again “Yo, Let’s go! Let’s go!” As the Gyftrot (you learned the reindeer’s name) gave you indications, he sighed and gave you a word of caution too.

“I heard the main road isn’t safe right now. The skeleton arrived to the town wounded, and there’s word of a slayer beast. We had thought the lost human was the dangerous slayer, but I see you mean no harm. That means something else is wandering up there” You shiver, thinking of Flowey.

You thank Gyftrot for the help, and make your way to town with the excited kid as company. They keep telling you all about Undyne, how strong and amazing she is, how she almost captured the last human (who they became friends with!) and then befriended them, how she comes by Snowdin sometimes to hang with ‘the tall skeleton’. When they get tired, you let them sit on your shoulders, and walk carefully so they won’t fall. You love kids, even if you’re not very good with them, but this kid’s ranting is not enough to keep you from getting creeped out by the loneliness of the road. There should be monsters around, right? Instead, there are only mounds of dust, randomly scattered along the road. You don’t know what this means, but you’re worried.

Crossing a long bridge, you reach the town of Snowdin. The houses are all made of thick wood, warm coming from the businesses and homes, but there’s no one around. You’d think it was a cute town, if it wasn’t for the eerie atmosphere. Did Flowey reach the town? Is anybody alive?

The kid doesn’t look happy either. They’re shouting names of people you don’t know, must be their friends, but nobody came. You stay close to them. If Flowey appears, you wouldn’t want them to get hurt.

“T-they must be in Grillby’s, you know? Because o-of the cold” The kid runs away and you’re running behind them, entering the establishment they did. Inside it looks like a diner, deserted except for a flame behind the counter. That flame…has glasses…

“Kid! Run home, I’ll distract the human!” the flame shouts, jumping over the counter and running onto you. Your chest is shining again, bright pink tinted orange by the wild flames of the monster attacking you. You’re hiding behind a table when you see the kid running out of the diner. You’re on your own. The flames engulf the table you’re using as cover in the time it takes you to jump away from the next attack, and you’re both running and jumping over tables, though the flames never eat the wood furniture.

You’re tired, you can’t keep dodging for long. The monster’s already hit you a few times, and though the flames hadn’t burned you they still hurt when they hit. You look to your feet, to see the health bar indicating 5/20. That’s what it takes for the monster to hit you again, just one moment of distraction, and now your health says 1/20. Your head hurts, your whole body is trembling, and you wonder if death is finally upon you as the bright fire monster towers above you.

“GRILLBY! STOP!” Both you and your opponent look to the door, where a red haired lady stood. The monster kid runs between her legs into the diner, going to your side “Yo, I went to get Undyne! Only she could save you!”

“Undyne, what’s the meaning of this? Why did you bring the kid back here?” Grillby asks, not keeping his look away from you. She’s walking into the diner, a glowing green spear on her hand. “The human’s not dangerous. I’ve been all day looking for them, they’re the royal guest and must be taken to Toriel”

“Someone’s been taking down monsters in the woods. First Papyrus arrives wounded, nobody knows where’s Sans, and this morning Greater Dog came with news of a slayer beast on the road. Everyone is hiding, thinking Papyrus called you to take the human down. Then, this human runs into my business chasing this kid”

“Y-yo! They didn’t do anything!” The kid is facing Grillby, standing between the two of you.

Undyne reaches for Grillby’s shoulder, staring at him seriously. “The human is innocent. I saw the beast myself, as I looked for the human. Just an hour ago, near the bridge… they got a snowdrake. That beast ran away before I skewered them with my spear”

Grillby calmed down with her words, finally looking away from you, wild flames becoming a tame fire. He sighed, looking back at you, and offering you a hand. “I’m terribly sorry. I hope you understand, I only wished to protect this child”

You take his hand and stand up. The flames feel warm, but don’t burn. “I understand. I don’t blame you”

“You’re certainly kind. Let me make it up to you”

That’s how, fifteen minutes later, you’ve ended up alone sitting in a booth in the trashed place, eating a burger and fries. Undyne left right away, not before nooging you (she said it’s a common welcome gesture among monsters), saying she’s got to chase the beast that’s slaying monsters, as she saw it going to Waterfall. The kid monster was elated, how Undyne touched you, when Grillby came back with your food and left to take the kid back to his home. He said he would be spreading the news, too, that you were not dangerous and the actual beast had left for Waterfall.

Strange enough, as you’re eating your food, you look down to your feet and see your health bar going back to 20/20. So far you’ve only seen it during battle, when a pink heart glows in your chest, but it seems it’s there when you eat, too. Videogame hell.

Someone sits across you while you’re looking down. You never heard the door open.

“i’m glad you made it. wanna ketchup?”

Sans is holding a ketchup bottle and winking at you. “That was a terrible pun” You say, keeping your voice flat. “well, not everyone can relish them” he says, drinking down the bottle of ketchup. You jump out of your seat, startling him, go round the table and hug him tight.

“didya miss me?” you can see him blushing a light shade of blue.

“I was scared” You tighten your hold on him, hiding your face on the fluffy neck of his jacket. He hugs you too, whispering words you wouldn’t hear if you weren’t so close. “me too”

You let go and look at his face, now a darker shade of blue. “Are you hurt?”

“heh, it takes a ton to take me down. A skele-ton”

You can’t help the snort that escapes you, and he’s laughing too. You’re glad he’s alive, but thinking back to the fight he did seem very strong. Now it’s mainly Papyrus who’s got you worried.

“Have you seen Papyrus? Is he ok?”

“he’s home, chatting Undyne’s ear off on his phone. he’s been worried about you, he called her for backup, but I think you already met her?”

You tell Sans the story of your fight with Grillby, and how Undyne saved you from him. When you reach the part where you lay on the floor, waiting for Grillby to end you, you can feel his hand slip into yours. You interlace your fingers with his, and end your story.

“Undyne saw Flowey killing monsters on the road to Snowdin, before escaping to Waterfall.” You fall silent for a moment, unsure how to proceed. “Sans… on the way here, I saw mounds of dust along the road. Were those…”

“the monsters Flowey killed” you look at him, and though you had thought of it before, just to remember how many mounds you saw makes your stomach tremble.

“Maybe we should go... It’s getting late. Want the rest of my fries?”

He’s drinking ketchup again “i would, but i dont have the stomach for it” His grin is forced, but you still smile at his pun (and pinch his arm). You thought people would feel safer now but, as you leave Grillby’s, the town is just as you first found it. Now that the light is going out, it leaves you feeling even worse. Sans starts walking ahead of you.

 

Seeing such a desolate little town, fills you with…..

 

Sadness, and melancholy.

 

 

SAVE ERROR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tagging the art I'm making for this fic as "Sadly Nothing fic" on my tumblr. If anybody wonders why Reader wears a dress but goes by they/them pronouns, Reader is NB.
> 
> Reader/Sans is happening. But I think there won't be smut 'til chapter 6, because of plot reasons. You'll find out.
> 
> Thanks everybody, for every comment and every kudos. You certainly fill me with... determination!


	4. Warm Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're staying with the skeletons for a while, enjoying their unexpected kindness while you can, stealing their food and claiming the couch.
> 
> Your feelings are not something you can turn on and off.

At the end of town, about 300 meters from the library and standing lonely beside the road to Waterfall, you find the skeleton’s home. It’s a big house, two stories, made of thick wood beams like the rest of Snowdin’s houses. Two mail boxes stand outside, one cluttered and one empty and clean. From inside the house soft light welcomed you, along with the shorter skeleton who was now holding your hand.

“welcome home. its not much but, a skeleton’s home is their castle, in a manor of speaking”

You enter the house, ignoring his terrible pun. Leaving your boots by the door, you’re about to take off your coat when you have a skeleton on you.

“HUMAN!!! YOU’RE NOT ONLY ALIVE, BUT YOU GOT MY BROTHER’S BONES AWAY FROM THAT GREASY DINER!!”

Papyrus hugs you while his tears fall on your head. He’s wearing pajamas, complete with a sleeping hat. “YOU COULD HAVE DIED, WHEN YOU FELL DOWN TO THE WOODS, AND I COULDN’T GET TO YOU ON TIME! YOU COULD’VE BROKEN YOUR BONES, OR DIED OF HUNGER, AS I HAVEN’T RENEWED MY SPAGHETTI TRAP… I KNOW TRAPS HAVE BEEN PROHIBITED, BUT THIS ONE COULD HAVE SAVED YOU!! I SHOULD INFORM THE QUEEN, ABOUT THE TRAPS…AND THAT YOURE ALIVE! AND UNDYNE TOO, BUT SHE MIGHT SUPLEX ME IF I CALL HER AGAIN”

You return the hug carefully, minding his broken ribs, looking up at his face you brush up a hand on his cheekbone. A sweet soft orange tints his skull. “I’m ok Papyrus, I made it to town all right. I actually met Undyne… I’m very tired, and you must be too. How are your bones?”

“Im sure he’ll be healed by to-marrow”

“SANS! WHY WOULD YOU TORMENT ME WITH PUNS TO ADD TO MY SUFFERING?! BUT, YOU’RE RIGHT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HEAL IN NO TIME! NYEH HEH HE-OOW” It seems laughing hurts him.

“I think you should rest, Paps. You need to heal, you took quite the hit” you think he needs some cheering, he did try to protect you after all… “and all for me. With that armor, I thought you were my saving Knight!” you swoon dramatically, hearing Sans chuckle, but when you look at Papyrus his eyes are shining, cheeks blushing. “I DID, DIDN’T I? I WAS YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR! LIKE THE STORIES! FEARSOME AND BRAVE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO THE RESCUE!” He strikes a pose, but curls up immediately, groaning.

“be careful with your bones bro theyre not tendon to stay in their place”

“SAAAANS” Papyrus groans, though in annoyance or pain you’re not sure. He says goodnight and leaves for his bedroom, and you’re left alone as Sans goes read him a bed time story. You take off your coat, sweater and leggings, ending up only in your flimsy dress. You find the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of water, with help of a chair of course. Why do they have such a ridiculously high sink? You’re out in the living room again when Sans comes down the stairs, bringing a fluffy blanket and a pillow with him.

“you look tired. time to hit the hay?”

You take them from his arms, thanking him. Your eyes are closing, and the headache you’ve had since this morning is now like an Orchestra inside your head. He says goodnight, but you don’t see him leave. He’s just gone when you look. Sans sure likes to be sneaky and mysterious.

You’re asleep in seconds, and you dream of dark caves full of peril. You don’t feel alone, holding somebody’s hand through the dark.

 

The sounds of pots and kitchenware wake you up with a killer headache. You’re squiggling out of the blanket burrito you got into, falling to the floor with a thump and a groan. You stand on trembling legs and make your way to the kitchen, shaking all over. You find Papyrus giving Sans indications, well, more like shouting them. He doesn’t seem to have any control over his volume, loudly telling Sans to stir harder. Sans ignores him, slowly stirring the pot, yawning and scratching his back. Then the tall skeleton notices you.

“GOOD MORNING, HUMAN! BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI WILL BE READY SOON…IF I GET SANS TO FOLLOW THE RECIPE!! I TELL YOU SANS, YOU HAVE TO DO IT FASTER! WITH PASSION! POUR YOUR SOUL INTO THE NOODLES!”

“if the spaghetti is soul flavored it wouldnt follow the recipe. it would be an impasta”

“SANS!” he groans “IF I WASN’T INJURED I WOULD SHOW YOU THE WAY OF A TRUE SPAGHETTORE, BUT WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH YOUR COOKING. PLEASE, PUT SOME EFFORT IN IT!”

“ai’ght bro, i got it”

You sit down, still wrapped in the blanket, curling further into yourself as you rest your head on the table. A cold hand is on your forehead, combing your hair out of your sweaty face. You look up at Papyrus’ concerned glance.

“HUMAN, YOU’RE RED! ARE YOU UNWELL?”

Sans gets three plates of spaghetti on the table, and puts his hand to your forehead.

“youre burning up, buddy. caught a cold in the snow”

You get your plate and start eating it slowly. It tastes pretty good, far from Papyrus’ burnt and overcooked “masterpiece”. You would be eating faster if it didn’t feel like sandpaper going down your throat, though. It comes as no surprise; you almost died the other night on the snow, and walked all day to Snowdin only to come close to death a second time (or was it third? You’ve lost count) at Grillby’s hands. You want nothing more than to sleep the day away.

“THIS IS A PROBLEM…WE NEED TO TAKE THE HUMAN TO THE QUEEN AND WE’RE BEHIND SCHEDULE”

“maybe we should postpone the trip to the castle. theyre sick, youre hurt, and the flower is still on the loose. think about it, bro”

You see Papyrus is deep in thought. He’s absent mindedly eating his spaghetti, one hand holding his ribcage. He’s not wearing a shirt, and you can see the fractured bones were bandaged. Thankfully, none of his ribs were completely broken off. You wonder what would happen to them if such thing were to occur. Could their bones be popped out of their sockets, and reattached? Or were they like an organic body, on the inside? You can’t make sense of their anatomy.

“WE’RE STAYING HERE. AT LEAST UNTIL THE HUMAN IS HEALTHY, AND I GET NEWS FROM UNDYNE. IT’S A SHAME THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD HAS TO KEEP DOWN, BUT UNDYNE IS FULLY CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH ANY VILLAIN! I’M SURE THAT FLOWER WILL BE CAPTURED ANY MOMENT SOON!”

After you’re done eating Sans ushers Papyrus upstairs, convincing him to stay in bed. You make your way to the couch, wearing the blanket like a cape. You turn on the TV, turning down the volume so it won’t bother Papyrus, and try to get comfortable. There is a cooking show on, starring a rectangular robot with…sexy legs…You wished you could say you’re surprised, but you’re not. The senselessness of the show barely distracts you from your agony, as you cough insistently your lungs out. Not long after, Sans is joining you on the couch, patting your back.

“you don’t look well at all. maybe you could use a hot bath” You nod, rubbing youreyes. Sans gets up, going through a door under the stairs, and you can hear sounds of water inside. Standing up, you make your way to him, entering the bathroom. “the tub is filling up. ill bring you a towel, okay, buddy?” You give him a little smile, and you look into the mirror on the sink as he leaves. Your face is all red, especially your nose, and the bags under your eyes are a deep purple. Your hair is a mess, having fallen out of your braids and gotten wet in the snow. You thank Sans when he brings a towel and leaves you to take a bath.

You never want to leave the warm water again. Cuddling up in the tub, trying to stick all your limbs inside the water at once, you’re thinking about your new bony friends. Papyrus can seem overbearing at first, but… he’s so sweet you can’t help but love him. He’s energetic, optimistic, focused and caring. He’s passionate about everything he does. You wish you had a bit of his spark in you.

Sans is… quiet. Speaks two words for every thousand words of Papyrus. You’re not fooled by his chill dude persona, you know someone like you when you see them. He cracks puns all day long, he’s a master of deviating a conversation, of evading questions, of letting nothing be known about him. But you can see right through him. You don’t know what he’s been through, or what’s in his head, but the pain in his heart is evident. He’s been incredibly sweet to you, in his own punny i-don’t-care way, and his attention has made you feel less lonely, less desperate, less broken. You don’t want to make yourself illusions, you’ve run through this gag before and you know how it goes: the hope in the beginning, the pleasure and joy in the middle, the pain of the end.

However…thinking about Sans, his arms around you, his face next to yours, you feel your body gain a warmth that has nothing to do with the water. It’s been so long since you last felt your stomach churning, or your fantasies had a face. What is it about that guy that makes you feel this way? You haven’t talked much. You know next to nothing about him. He’s funny, joking all the time and loves to irritate his brother. He’s powerful, scarily so. Thinking back to the fight, Sans conjuring bones and skulls out of thin air, blue eye glowing menacingly, you’re biting your lip. Maybe that’s what you like best about him, he’s both sweet and scary. There’s something adorable about him.

You leave the water, sadly enough, as it’s getting cold. Back into your purple dress, you make a beeline for the couch, and fall soundly asleep.

 You wake up to the sounds of a game show on TV, Sans sitting on the arm of the couch watching it while eating chips. It looks dark out the window. Stretching, you sit up and pat for Sans to sit beside you. The same rectangle with legs is on this show, dancing around the screen to the beat of the song. “Videogame hell is so weird”

“what?”

You flinch when you hear him, you didn’t notice you’d say it out loud. “it’s just, the show, what is that robot with sexy legs? Is it on every show?” You’re stealing his chips, trying to look casual.

“hes Mettaton, appears in every show including the news, every movie…but i dont know about this ‘videogame hell’ you mentioned” the lights in his eyes are gone, making his grin look menacing. You swallow. You’ve been caught red handed, nothing left but to explain him your theory, though you hadn’t wanted to say this out loud.

“It’s just… this world, right? This can’t be real. When I first arrived in this place, I found monsters and magic and my soul shining on my chest. Looking at my feet, a yellow bar. I…I thought I was in some kind of afterlife, a hell where a flower tried to kill me. Videogame hell”

He stays silent long after that, occasionally eating some of his chips, keeping his eyes on the screen ahead. Mettaton chooses someone from the audience, a purple cat, to participate in the show. The cat jumps and hugs him excitedly, then falls into a ball pit in the stage… you don’t understand this show. Sans sits motionless. You think he’s given up on the topic, when he speaks up. “if thats how you see this, then our lives are meaningless, right?”

You say nothing, and he goes on “if this is just a game, then every monster, every life you in your way has no value to you, is that right? theyre not real. if you had to kill to leave this place, it would mean nothing to you”

The blue light on his eye is back, but now directed at you, bathing both of you in its color. His grin looks forced, painful, and your heart is crushing in your chest.

“But…I don’t want to leave”

He takes a few seconds to register your words, his blue eye fading into the usual white lights, his grin dying out. “There’s nothing for me on the surface. Nobody’s waiting. I agreed to go with you to meet the Queen, but even if I hadn’t… I have nowhere else to go” His eyes are wide, trying to read you.

“I wouldn’t kill anybody, either. I don’t know just how real this world is, if I’m really in hell, but… you’ve been so kind to me. I… care about you. I was so afraid for you and Paps, and then when I heard nobody had seen you…” You both look away from each other, your eyes turning to the screen. It was a bad idea to tell him about this, you knew it. Now he’s offended, now he thinks you don’t care-

He gives you a one armed hug, hand on your waist, looking into your eyes. “sorry, buddy” he looks rather uncomfortable “i just, i was afraid you would… be like other humans”

You watch tv with him for a while, cuddling into his side, and he scolds you for stealing all his chips.

 

Next morning Papyrus walks down wearing his heavy armor, complete with a new red cape. You’re eating dry cereal you found in the pantry, when his roaring voice announces his plans.

“HUMAN! I WILL BE GOING TO ASSIST UNDYNE!  LAST I HEARD FROM HER SHE HAD NEARLY CAPTURED OUR FOE, BUT NOW…” he looks disheartened, but trying to hold it in “I THINK HER PHONE IS OUT OF BATTERIES. OR MAYBE, SHE CRUSHED IT, SHE’S DONE THAT MANY TIMES. FIGURES NOT EVEN THE SUPER-RESISTANT PHONE, THAT ALPHYS MADE FOR HER, WOULD BREAK TOO”

Sighing, he gives you his phone. “HERE! LET’S EXCHANGE PHONE NUMBERS! THAT WAY IF YOU’RE BORED WITH SANS YOU CAN GIVE ME A CALL!” You register your number on his phone, writing down your name and ‘HUMAN’ at the end. Maybe he’ll appreciate the little joke.

He calls you and you register his number under PAPS (skull emoji). Waving goodbye, he leaves the house on his way to Waterfall.

The rest of the morning you spend watching TV and napping. Thankfully, you feel much better, but now you’re trying to kill the time while Sans isn’t home. He must be working, you suppose, but what’s his job? Is he a comedian, perhaps? You called Papyrus once in the afternoon, and laughed at his silly anecdotes. He said he hadn’t found Undyne, but he was close to her house.

Around 9pm Sans comes home bringing some containers with him. “I got something from Grillby’s. he made something for your cold, hes still sorry for giving you a rough time”

You sit down in front of the TV, eating slowly the chicken broth Grillby made for you. You’re going to thank him next time for it, it feels amazing down your hurt throat, warming you up. Sans sits beside you, taking a bite from his burger, ketchup staining his tee. This is the guy you like? You blush suddenly at the thought.

“i thought you were getting better, but your face looks all red” He has a huge grin, eyeing you mockingly. You try to laugh it off, finishing your food. When you look back, he still has his eyes on you. “Enjoying the view?” you tease him. Serves him well.

“Maybe I am”

NOW you’re red. You can feel your face burning up as you stare at him in disbelief. “is it really a surprise? im not very sneaky, thought you would notice right away” And now he’s blatantly lying. Master of mystery, not sneaky? Heh. Is he just messing with you? Or does he really…like you? Your head is a wreck.

He notices your discomfort and looks away, finishes up his burger, licking up the ketchup from his fingers… licking? He has a tongue?! Before you can look again he’s gone to the kitchen, taking the dirty dishes with him.

Now your head is full of ideas you’re not sure you want to entertain. You don’t want this. Or…you do? No, romance is mayhem, and you’ve got no energy, no happiness, nothing to give. But, perhaps this could be something merely sexual. That you can handle. No strings attached, no messy feelings, just some fooling around. Could be fun.

Decided, you wait for him to return. The lights are off, the TV broadcasting the most boring news report you’ve seen in your life, and you’re fidgeting with your hair. Can you do this? It’s got to be easy, it’s only physical, a need for contact. You want him. He wants you. Simple. No no no it’s not that simple, argh, no, don’t overthink this.

When did he get here? He’s suddenly back at your side, changing channels. You try to focus on the show he chose, when you feel an arm over your shoulders, making you jump.

“dang, sorry, just trying to be smooth here…you must think im a bonehead” He’s laughing it off, but you can’t react, you can do nothing at all. You can’t do it. You can’t just…turn off your head, your heart, and distance yourself from him. You’re going to end up hurt. You will regret this.

Hell with it. If you’re not going to take chances in videogame hell, where? You place your hands on his cheekbones, and kiss him before you can think any better.

He remains still, captured in your kiss, and you almost break apart when he holds you and kisses you back. It’s slow, tentative, and a little nervous. His hands are trembling on your back holding onto your clothes, and he breaks apart with a sudden move.

You’re left looking into each other’s eyes.

“pa..papyrus hasnt answered my calls…its late, im…im gonna call again…”

He’s blushing a bright blue as he dials time and time again, with no response. You’re not sure how you feel. Maybe you’ll know when your heart stops beating so fast. Sans hangs up after the tenth missed call, and hides his hands inside his pockets. “hes alright. he must have stayed at Undyne’s. he’ll be back in the morning”

He slumps down the couch, and you’re touching his arm, trying to offer support. He holds his hand over yours for a moment, letting go to get up. “im calling it a day. goodnight” He gives you a shy smile, his face still blue, as he puts up his hoodie and goes upstairs. Was that a rejection? It seemed like it, but it doesn’t feel like one. Maybe he’s only worried about Paps.

Checking your phone (thankfully charged by magic electricity) you notice it is actually late. You try calling Papyrus, but he doesn’t answer. It still rings, so he’s not out of batteries. You think of Flowey, roaming somewhere deep in the caves, and you’re afraid for Papyrus. He protected you when you were in danger, and has been caring and friendly. You think of him turned to dust, and that’s what makes you get up and get ready.

You try not to make any noise, you don’t want to wake Sans up. He would tell you to wait, or call for somebody else. But if he’s not going, you will. You’re not waiting to find your friend as a mound of dust like the ones along the road. You owe it to him.

You’re dressed up, backpack on, and you take a red scarf you find by the door on your way out. Putting it up around your neck, trying to cover your nose and ears too, you think of what lies ahead. You start walking the long road you know leads to Waterfall, leaving the snow to enter a passage darker than the night behind you. Your moment of courage is ending, but you don’t feel like going back. If you’re honest with yourself you don’t only want to find Papyrus…

Part of you wants Flowey to find you.

The walls of the cave are dark. There’s water falling from the cave’s lowering ceilings into chasms in the ground, traveling deep into the earth. You touch it, feeling its warmth. You reach an empty sentry station with snow on its roof. No one’s around. You hold your phone in trembling hands, dialing the same number over and over.

A feeling of dread falls over you. Gems are glistening on the walls of the passage, filling you with…..

 

Something dark, thick and mysterious.

 

 

SAVE ERROR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be uploaded earlier but...life happens. Also, it's freaking exhausting writing in a second language. I have about 15 tabs open with puns, synonyms, idioms and definitions.
> 
> And I still ain't got a beta. Deep sigh. I don't think I would have the determination to write this fic if I didn't have the whole story planned out already, and if I didn't have YOU, kind people leaving comments. Your comments feed my writing power.
> 
> This ended up longer than usual, I had to cut some scenes where you bond with Papyrus :( so be it for the sake of Sans/Reader.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	5. You're going to be Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waterfall can be dangerous if you don't know the way.
> 
> But you're not alone.

There’s no light in here. The caves grow smaller, darker, constricting, and you feel like you’re suffocating. The beauty of the precious gems on the walls and ceilings would usually captivate you, but the sounds of your phone endlessly dialing Papyrus’ number are making you tremble. Why did you even think of doing this? You owe them nothing, you’ve barely met them, you’re but an empty husk of the person you used to be...the excuses are many, as fear invades your shivering frame. No matter what they’ve done or not, you’re not the kind of person to do careless acts of heroism. You’re incredibly selfish, you know that. Then, why are you risking your life for Papyrus?

The scarf on your neck is soft, keeping you warm in these frightening endless tunnels, interrupted by the course of water dripping from the low ceilings. In this darkness its color is mudded, bright red turning to deep garnet, wrapped around you like a comforting hug. You want to do this for him. Your mind is a battle, tearing you apart and leaving bloody trails, your heart growing hot and cold as your steps echo in the empty chambers. Your only comfort is the hope that death might find you sooner than it finds him.

You turn round the corner, into a long hallway full of bright blue crystals. Your heart skips a beat. The taste of a nervous kiss haunts your aching chest. He’s also why you’re doing this. Because if something happened to Papyrus… What would be of Sans? You don’t think he has anybody else. You’ve seen it happen. You’ve been through it. To think of Sans, silly and sweet, ending up like _you_ …disgusts you. If there’s one good thing left for you to do, if there’s one thing your lame existence can accomplish, it’s to save someone from walking down your path.

_“Leave a message after the tone”_

Frustrated, you hang up and redial. You’re not expecting him to answer. You know something’s happened to him, you can feel it in your guts, but refuse to acknowledge the ugly truth. You continue walking, ignoring the glowing inscriptions telling some kind of tale. There is no clear road the way it had in Snowdin, and having no source of light besides some sparkling stones and your phone’s screen light has left you, you admit with a sigh, utterly lost.

_“Leave a message after th-”_

You finally give up on calling his number, and leave your phone inside your bag. The cave falls in deep silence. There’s a subtle sound coming from the rushing water over and under you, transiting its eternal cycle. A far off noise dies all of a sudden, and you only recognize it once it’s over. Steps.

Somebody is following you. You’re panicking, running away, taking an exit to your right into a room with tall columns when you fall into the water. It’s not deep, you notice when you stand up and it only reaches your hips, but then the steps are back and getting closer. You’re making your way through the muddy water, half running half swimming, you reach a wooden pier and climb up when a shadow’s standing in front of you.

“water you doing?”

You’re so relieved you just flump to the floor. There’s a moment of silence where Sans sits down next to you, just watching your breathing slow down. You sit up, visibly trembling from the cold air hitting your drenched clothes. He’s taking off his coat and offers it to you without a word. You put it on, and it’s so warm. It’s fluffy, soft, and smells like him. You don’t ever want to take it off.  

“theres a fine line between brave and stupid, and you’re using it as a jumping rope. why did you come all this way alone?”

You don’t know what to answer, so you don’t. You thought of waking him up before you left, to ask him to come with you, but what if you had found only a dusty cape? You don’t want Sans to go through the death of a loved one, you don’t want to see emptiness in his eyes. He sighs, standing up and giving you a hand. He’s starts walking across the pier, and doesn’t let go of your hand.

“Do you know where he could be?”

“hes not at Undyne’s. i dont think hes still looking for her, its late, and he would have called to let me know if he needed help”

“Why did you go to sleep, then? Why didn’t you come looking for him?”

“im here now, am i not?” his eyes look dark, and though he’s holding your hand he tries not to look your way. You’re walking through tall grass when he pushes you to the floor and lies down with you, holding your mouth shut with his hand. You try to get away, adrenaline still in your veins from earlier, but he gives you a pleading look. You lay still, and listen to the sounds of ground moving near you, and a rattle of bones. There’s a muffled voice asking where Undyne is. It’s them.

Sans is still holding you to the ground, his left eye beginning to glow. When the sounds get far from you, he lets go but puts a finger on your lips, urging you to stay quiet. You two get up, following the trail of dirt going further into the cave.

You reach a place with glowing water. The cave looks beautifully illuminated by the clear blue light of the water, flowing into canals around paths of earth where echo flowers and reeds are growing. You’re walking slowly, still hand in hand, and you can hear the soft buzz of words from the flowers. You try to listen intently, but can only make out a few words.

_Soul. Capture. Human. Undyne. Determination._

Sans is scanning the place for threats, keeping you near him at all times. His skull is sweating. You haven’t found any mounds of dust in Waterfall, and just now Flowey seems to be holding Papyrus captive. What is it planning? And, how did it get so powerful, when it used to be a meager flower?

A bright flash of deep blue blinds you, stopping to a halt. You still can’t see anything when Sans is guiding you somewhere, and suddenly you’re against a wall, Sans behind you. You try to take deep breaths, you don’t understand what happened, but Sans is here. Maybe you can make it out alive, hopefully with Papyrus too. Many voices speak at once, coming from somewhere near.

“F inA LLY! Ha h  a, It s WR I gg LIN G. yOU w o NT esC a PE tHIS t I M E”

“WHAT DID YOU DO? ANSWER ME, YOU WEIRDO!”

An evil laugh sounds from the voices, repeated by the flowers in the place. You have goosebumps. “it is onlY WH A T i N eEd. wHAT Be L oNG s t O M E. h um a n s O UL S”

“H-HUMAN SOULS? THAT BLUE LIGHT? WHERE WOULD YOU GET THAT? THEY VANISHED WHEN THE KING DISSAPPEARED”

“I thOU G ht tH At Too. BuT Th EY D I D n O t. S till iN HE r E, s cAT TE red. but, nO t enO UGH. TODE sT roY T H IS wor LD I neED M O R E. Hu m A N sou L s. MonS T ER So UL S. dE TER M i nA TIOn. mYfr I END, Pa pyr US, yOU W ILL He L p Me. UnDY N E Will b e dE T ERMI N ED To SAvE yOU. I w ill eA T HeR uND YIN G S OUL"

Sans is shaking with rage, hiding his face in your shoulder. You try to hold him, but he gets away. You still can’t see anything, the world around you is unknown, and without Sans you’re lost in the darkness. He must have gone to fight Flowey, and left you here where you’re safe, you think. You shrink in his blue coat, holding yourself on the brink of a panic attack. There’s nothing you can do. Your friends are going to die, and you’re hiding in a corner.

Your hand takes hold of the moonstone on your chest, thumb feeling the smooth surface. You think of the shining heart that appears on every battle, bright pink like a guiding light before danger. Could you face Flowey? Could you, at least, give them enough time to escape? You can see a blurry light, the water flowing near your feet. The flowers still echo the roaring laugh of the monster holding Papyrus.

You blink twice, your vision coming back to you. In that moment, sounds of shooting lasers and throwing bones come from round the corner. It’s now or never. Leaving your hiding place, you run to the battle, pink light glowing like a lantern as you evade thorns coming your way and stand next to Sans. He looks back to you for a second, surprised, but gives his attention back to the sharp thorns and vines flying around the place. “stay out of danger!” he shouts at you.

Flowey is now bigger, and has two metal arms it’s using to hold Papyrus at his feet. There are more faces, more flowers with distorted looks and painful glares, but some of them have only eyes instead of faces. Sans is throwing an avalanche of bones its way, managing to hit repeatedly but causing little damage. When you see an opening, you run right into Flowey, diving at its feet reaching for Papyrus.

He seems knocked out, there’s a big crack on his skull, but he’s still alive and not dust. You hear Flowey’s voices scream as you detach Papyrus from the metal arms with a strong pull, getting a big cut down your arm in the process.

You run with him in tow, lighter now he’s without armor (where did he leave it? Did Flowey take it off him?). Sans is using bones to try and create a barrier between you and Flowey, he’s concentrated he never sees the bullets going his way. He falls on his knees, bones broken, skull cracked and leaking blood. You reach him, falling before him, Flowey laughing behind you so loud you can’t hear what Sans is telling you.

There’s a health bar at Sans’ feet, empty unlike yours, it says 0/1. You look up to his face, he’s smiling, dust coming off his wounds.

You’re crying, leaving Papyrus on the ground and holding Sans’ face. There are tears falling down his eye sockets, and he tries to touch your hand on his cheek, but his hand is almost pure dust by now.

A sharp pain burns your guts, and Sans’ face looks horrified. Your blood is tinting the soil red. When Flowey pulls off the vine sticking through you, you’re falling down into dusty bones.

Flowey laughs, and its voices say in a cheerful voice “Ar eNT You h APPy? Y ourEg OIn G tO BE F R E E”

You’re falling, and falling, time has slowed down and your eyes close.

 

 

 

 

 

You wake up on a patch of golden flowers.

The shock of the sudden change makes you bolt up immediately, standing on your weak legs, looking around this strange place. What happened? Where are Sans, and Papyrus, and Flowey? That wasn’t a dream, that pain was no dream, you could even feel the ghost of it though there were no marks in your abdomen. You’re wearing the same dirty tee and jeans you had when you first woke up down here. Your backpack is a few meters away. Just like before.

You’re picking it up when you hear a voice you’ve come to fear. “Well, this is new” You turn around.

"Howdy! I’m Flowey, Flowey th-“ You scream at the top of your lungs, running backwards out of the light and bumping into the wall of the cave, tears streaming down your face. “Hey, pal, you don’t have to be so scared. I bet you’ve never seen monsters before, but-“

“WHO’S THERE? ARE YOU A HUMAN?” a faint shout echoes from afar “SANS, COME ON!”

“Oh no, not that guy now…” Flowey leaves the place in a hurry, and a few seconds later your friends enter the cave. You’re sure your eyes are big as plates when you see them unscathed. You leave your bag on the ground and run to them, stopping a few feet before them.                                                                                                

“SANS! IT’S A HUMAN!” Papyrus cleared his throat, pushing his cape aside “FEAR NOT, HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND I’VE COME TO GREET YOU AS THE ROYAL GUEST! THE QUEEN OF MONSTERS, TORIEL, AWAITS YOU IN THE CASTLE! I WILL BE YOUR ESCORT IN THE UNDERGROUND, ALONG WITH MY BROTHER SANS. FIRST YOU SHOULD KNOW-”

“uh, bro, i think you should slow down. they look terrified”

Your hands are shaking, you look between the two of them, and they appear just as the first time you ever saw them. The blue coat you died wearing now sits comfortably on Sans shoulders. None of them have cracks on their skulls, there are no signs of dust either.

“W-WHY WOULD THEY BE AFRAID, SANS? MY MAGNIFICENT FORM IS INTIMIDATING, SURE, BUT NOT MEANT TO CAUSE FEAR ON HUMANS”

Sans is looking into your eyes, holding your gaze with his brow furrowed. You walk up to him, tears falling from your eyes, and you touch his skull where just moments ago there were bleeding cracks, tracing the bones, and suddenly you’re sobbing uncontrollably. You hug him, crying onto his shoulder how there was blood, so much blood, his coat stained with it and dust on your hands, you’re trembling in his arms and he holds you silently.    

You can’t die. You’re back to the beginning, this cursed place with golden flowers and sunlight gently caressing your trembling frame. Even the clothes on you are the same as before. Flowey’s last words were lies, you’re not going to be free. This really is hell, the one you deserve, one you can’t escape from, even if you see your friends turn to dust and your blood bathing the whispering flowers.

You leave Sans’ embrace and hug Papyrus, tightening your arms around his armor and crying into the red scarf at his neck. He’s holding you, muttering words of assurance, when your fatigue and shock are too much and everything turns black.

You open your eyes a few hours later on the same bed you remember, inside the house in the Ruins. You’re thirsty, your head is bandaged again, and there’s a phantom ache in your guts. You’re not alone this time around.

“youve had some rough moments, i see. you know who i am, dont you?... dont answer that, its pretty obvious. what you told me before, about the blood and dust, it really… surprised me”

His eyes are half closed, head hanging low, sitting on the bed looking at the space between his feet. His hands are clenched together, fidgeting with a pencil.

“youre the first one. to remember, i mean. when humans wake up inside the ruins, they dont know where they are, they dont know anybody, though theyve walked these places many times and befriended every monster in sight. or killed them, in some cases” You’re sitting up, and put a hand on his shoulder. So…humans have done this before, dying and waking up back where they started, like some trait exclusive to the visitors of this hell. You don’t know what makes you different from the ones before you, what keeps you from forgetting. Could it be that, because your last moments were so terrible, this hell wanted you to remember them?

“Sans…is this only the second time I wake up here? Or have I been through this before, and just now I remember?”

He seems taken aback by your question, but shakes it off. “yes. the previous timeline was the first time you had ever been here”

You hug him, resting your head on his shoulder. You’re glad he remembers you. Flowey didn’t seem to, going with the same words as the first time. Papyrus doesn’t remember you. The thought makes your heart ache, and you hold Sans closer. He puts a hand on your head, combing his fingers through your hair. At least you’re not alone in this hell.

“youll have to tell me everything you remember. i think we might be in danger”

You look at him, his face blushing. You’re confused. “You don’t remember Flowey?”

“the flower that attacked in the road to Snowdin? what happened to it?”

Ok. He doesn’t remember everything. You’re almost glad, you don’t want him to remember you bleeding to death over his and Papyrus’ bones, or how his body was slowly fading away. You’ll have to live with that image yourself. But if he doesn’t remember Flowey…

“What time is it?” You jump out of the bed before he can answer you, and run out of the house. Sans follows you, and stands on the door watching you, as you look up to the small patch of sky you can see from here. It’s only twilight, the sky a deep purple, a few stars shining above. Flowey attacked, or will attack you on the road tomorrow’s afternoon. Your blood turns cold with the memory of Papyrus’ ribs breaking. This time, you can avoid it.

“We need to leave for Snowdin. Now”

The light in Sans’ eyes fades, his grin disappears. “ill tell Papyrus” He goes into the house, the door closing behind him.

 

 

Looking at the same cute, tidy house in the ruins, back in time, fills you with…….

 

Quite a disturbing feeling.

 

 

 

SAVE ERROR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the consequence of your lack of determination.


	6. A2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it's not that bad. You're not alone, anymore.  
> Can you make it work, for once?
> 
>  
> 
> It's finally ready! Oh god. I got sick, and the sex scene gave me a headache. Writing smut is way harder than it seems. I'm posting it before I change my mind.

Darkness in here is different from the surface, where the moon and stars are ever present companions. Down here, darkness is oppressive, like an invading coldness burning your bones. Your red coat doesn’t help much against the cold this time either.

Papyrus is strangely quiet, guiding you through the shadows with resolve, turning back from time to time to look at you with concern. His metal armor looks dark as the night itself, and you can only see him for his red cape, flowing in the nightly wind. Sans is behind you, keeping an eye out for anybody that might follow you, huddled in his coat, hoodie pulled up. The light in his eyes are the only indication that he’s there. You’re still trembling, but you’re not sure if it’s the cold, the fear, or the lasting shock. You hold your stomach like that could alleviate the phantom ache.

You don’t know what Sans told Papyrus to make you all leave in a manner of minutes, but they’ve both been silent as you make your way to Snowdin. Hopefully you’re right, and Flowey won’t find you this time. You’re not sure you could face it again. Oh god…again. It hurts to think everything you did before means nothing. It’s a sensation you’re familiar with, but it doesn’t hurt any less. It’s a new timeline, where you never met that monster kid, or Grillby, or Undyne. This time Papyrus doesn’t know you. He’s not your friend…yet, you think with hope. If you became friends once, why wouldn’t you this time around?   

It takes a few hours for you to reach the town.

Snowdin is dead quiet, just like the first time you arrived. Nonetheless, the atmosphere of despair is absent, and only calmness reigns the sleepy town of homely monsters. When you reach the skeleton’s home you sigh in relief. You let yourself fall to your knees once inside, taking deep breaths, holding onto your moonstone to give you some comfort. God, you wish _she_ was here. But then, what good has wishing done to you?

“HUMAN? YOU’RE IN VERY BAD SHAPE. YOU MUST LET ME TEND TO YOUR INJURIES!”

You nod, and Papyrus is carrying you to the couch. He takes the bandages off your head. He’s holding your head in place, muttering words of comfort, and you see his eye sockets glowing an orange light. That must be his magic, just as Sans’ glows blue, but unlike him both of Papyrus’ eyes light up. You understand monsters are mostly magic from what little they’ve told you, but you don’t understand the logic behind it. Maybe that’s the point? Magic follows no logic you know of.

“THAT’S IT, HUMAN! YOUR HEAD WOUND IS HEALED, THANKS TO MY SUPERIOR HEALING ABILITIES! DOES ANYTHING ELSE HURT?”

You lie on the couch and pull up your tee to show him your abdomen. His eyes glow again, placing one hand on you. You can feel his magic invading your guts, like a gentle breeze, warm and comforting. Sans is standing behind him, reading you intently. You don’t feel like telling him what made your guts ache this badly. When you look again, he’s gone.

“IT SEEMS YOU’RE ALL RIGHT! I ADMIT, I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HUMAN ANATOMY, BUT MY MAGIC COULDN’T DETECT ANYTHING OUT OF PLACE. MAYBE IT’S JUST STRESS?”

Yeah, damn right it’s stress. A stressing vine through the stomach. “I think I just need to rest. Can we talk in the morning?”

He seems happy with it, and goes fetch you the same fluffy blanket Sans gave you the other night. He says goodnight, and leaves to his room to take off his armor. You know he doesn’t sleep much, less now when the sunrise is soon to arrive, but thankfully you’re a heavy sleeper. Sans sits down next to you, appearing out of nowhere, as usual.

“can I know now what are we running from? its got to be something serious, for you to act this way”

You sigh, pulling up your legs on the couch and getting comfortable under the blanket. “Flowey is dangerous. You know it caught us on the road to Snowdin?” he nods “Happened again in Waterfall, and I heard its plan. I didn’t understand much, but it seems Flowey is collecting human souls for some reason, and monster souls too”

Sans groans, hiding his face in his hands. “i suspected about the human souls. do you know where they are?”

“One must be in the ruins…the other one is in Waterfall, in a place where the water glows. I couldn’t see at the moment, I don’t know the exact location”

He sighs, getting under the blanket too. “i know the place. ill have to check the ruins, tho. how you doing so far?” He’s giving you a concerned look, his skull close to your face and you’re blushing. You hug him, resting your head in his shoulder, snuggling close to him. “Not so good. My body hurts, my head hurts, I don’t really want to do anything for a few days” or ever, in that matter.

He’s hugging you, playing with your hair, and you relax into his side. He’s being much more affectionate than before, but you’re not sure if it’s him trying to comfort you, or if he feels the same way you do. Being this close you can distinguish an aroma that’s solely him, beneath the smell of condiments. Your heart is beating faster, you’re warm and cozy in his bony embrace, and when you look up he’s closed his eyes, humming quietly. You take the chance to kiss him.

He jumps up, looking like a deer in headlights. He’s blushing an intense blue, and though he’s still holding you in his arms, he looks ready to run. “uh, w-wow…kid, youre certainly something, arent you” He laughs nervously. He’s rejecting you for good, and you feel so stupid and so embarrassed that you jump off his lap and run to the kitchen, just to be away from him.

He follows you, stammering, and you hate how he’s trying to let you down easy ”hey, buddy, listen, dont…dont feel bad about it. im flattered, really, just. i mean, i like you, weve basically just met but”

“You don’t have to do this. I get it. You don’t like me” You’re so angry at yourself and your stupid feelings. You’re always doing this, letting yourself feel too much, even in the worst case scenarios like this stupid videogame afterlife.

“its not that! listen, youre really cute, but, uh…youre a kid. you might not look like a kid, but youre still wearing stripes. im too old for you”

“…What?”

You’re completely dumbfounded. He’s too old for you? Just HOW old is he? “I’m not a kid. I don’t know how old are you, but I’m definitely an adult”

“…why are you wearing a striped shirt?”

You feel like you’re the embodiment of the question mark. “Why wouldn’t I?” You look down to your dirty tee, seeing its white and pink stripes. “It’s just clothing. Does it…mean something to monsters? I think we might have missed something in translation”

Three seconds of silence, where he looks at you utterly confused, and then he roars with laughter. He’s laughing so hard his mouth is actually open, and you can see his teeth end in sharp spikes. That’s…weirdly arousing. The ridiculousness of this whole situation has you laughing, first nervously, then just as much as Sans, falling to the floor.

You can hear a muffled shout from Papyrus upstairs. “SANS? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? YOU’RE GOING TO WAKE UP THE HUMAN!”

You try to calm your laughing, signing Sans to be quiet too, but it just erupts again louder. When the laughter dies out, you’re both sitting on the kitchen floor, wiping tears from your eyes, your face hurts from smiling so hard. Damn, these skeletons are giving you more laughs than you’ve had in years.

“only kids wear striped shirts”

Oh. Now you understand why he was so disturbed. Last time you were wearing something different and he had flirted with you, but it’s like he forgot about it? “It means nothing to humans. I’m an adult…just so you know” You feel your face getting warm, giving him a little smile. He blushes and chuckles some more.

“thats one weight off my shoulders. glad to know im not some sicko”

He’s helping you up, like many times before. Standing before him you take his face in your hands. You wouldn’t have ever guessed you’d find a skeleton so attractive. The smooth bones are warm to the touch, with a certain softness an actual skeleton wouldn’t have. “So…you like me?”

He holds you, hand on your back, moving your hair out of your face. “i dont get… what do you see in me? im just a sack of lazy bones” He’s chuckling, but you sense that was more than a joke. It’s really bothering him. You want to show him all that you see in him. You want to give him some happiness.

“You’re not. You’re so much more” You kiss him one more time, and this time he’s kissing you back just as fiercely, desperately, holding you like he’s gonna lose you.

He breaks the kiss, breathing heavily. “m-maybe you should…change out of that shirt. it, uh, still creeps me out” You give him a little peck, leaving for the bathroom, taking your bag with you.

You close the door, your heart is going a hundred miles an hour and your legs feel like they’re made of jelly. You sit down on the floor of the bathroom, hugging your backpack, smiling silly. He kissed you. He likes you. He blushes because of you, he wants you back. You’re so full of adrenaline and happiness you can barely feel the pain in your guts anymore. Instead, something burns deep within you. It’s not so cold inside anymore.

You take deep breaths, closing your eyes, letting your body melt onto the tiles. Maybe this place isn’t so bad. There are dangers, and you can’t die, but Sans is here. And, no matter what happens, he will remember you. Even if you die again, even if he dies, you can go back and you can be together. Also, this time you know better. You won’t let Flowey kill neither Sans nor Papyrus again. You won’t let your new life end as badly as the last one.

The same flowery dress will have to do, you suppose, taking off your tee and changing. When taking out your clothes something falls from your bag with a dull sound. On the floor there’s a little black notebook. You pick it up, opening through the familiar pages. It’s the notebook you found in the cabin. How is this possible? If everything resets when you die, like your clothes did, why do you have this here? Could it be…because it was inside your bag?

You put it back inside, thinking on the implications of its presence. If your bag is immune to resets, everything inside of it should remain no matter what. A chill runs down your spine. This could be useful, but you’re not sure how. You hope you don’t need to use it in the future. No more resets, no more gruesome deaths. Maybe it’s a little too hopeful, but you’d like to stay with the skeletons, whatever happens after you meet the Queen.

You find Sans dozing off on the couch, you sit on his lap and kiss his skull repeatedly. He’s softly laughing, he holds your face and kisses you deeply, covering both of you with the blanket. It’s a bumpy couch, and snuggling a skeleton is not easy, but it’s the best sleep you’ve had in a long while.

You don’t dream of blood and dust. Only of a shining blue light.

When you wake up it’s early morning, and you’re alone on the couch. Papyrus is in the kitchen, making pasta again. At least it’s not spaghetti this time. It looks like ravioli, but it’s too big and the filling breaks out. Papyrus is stirring the sauce so hard it’s flying off the pot, staining the counter and the floor.

“Good morning, Paps”

He turns around, still stirring with all his strength “GOOD MORNING, HUMAN! HOW ARE YOUR WOUNDS TODAY? YOU MUST BE FEELING BETTER NOW! I AM GREATLY ADEPT IN HEALING MAGIC, AFTER ALL!”

You feel much better, and tell him so. He invites you to sit down and have breakfast with him. You want to excuse yourself, but remember this is a new timeline, and Papyrus doesn’t know you that well. You sit, and eat the ravioli with excitement, trying to make him feel proud of his cooking. It’s…actually not that bad. Better than his spaghetti, even if the ravioli broke to pieces swimming in sauce.

“This is really good! You’re a great cook, Paps. What’s your secret?” You try to smile for him, and this time it’s not that hard to do.

He’s blushing, and his smile looks so genuine you want to pinch his cheekbones. He’s just that cute. “THE ONLY SECRET IS TO NEVER GIVE UP! OF COURSE, I HAVE A NATURAL TALENT FOR GREATNESS, BUT EVERYONE CAN BE GREAT! JUST KEEP TRYING, WORKING HARD, AND YOU CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING YOU DREAM OF! LIKE ME, I DREAMED OF BEING IN THE ROYAL GUARD, AND LOOK AT ME NOW!” He strikes a pose, flinging his cape over his shoulder. You think you’re going to cry. If only you had met someone like him before, someone who believed in you. He looks worried at you.

“…HUMAN? ARE YOU CRYING?” You shake your head, wiping some stray tears from your eyes. “I’ts just…you’re really inspiring, Paps. Do you really think I can…I don’t know, achieve something? Me?” Could it be possible that, just for once, things don’t go awfully wrong? That you can be happy, and make others happy? You fill your mouth with the remaining ravioli to stop you from this train of thought. Enough crying already.

“OF COURSE YOU CAN! HUMAN, I BELIEVE IN YOU!” His smile is so big and there’s a shine in his eye sockets. You can feel your stomach twisting. It’s been a long time since you’ve last heard anyone trying to encourage you, genuinely rooting for you. You smile at him, thanking him. He’s got a hand on your shoulder, saying he would be glad to help you in anything you need.

“Papyrus, are we friends?”

“FRIENDS? YES, OF COURSE!” then, he mutters to himself “WOWIE…A NEW FRIEND…I’M SO POPULAR!” You giggle and place your hand on top of his. His blush goes from peach to orange in a second.

After cleaning the kitchen, not an easy feat, Papyrus leaves to recalibrate the puzzles on the road. Apparently, Sans told him that you were afraid of someone who attacked you in the Ruins, and that they might come following us. Papyrus decided on waiting to see there was no danger. He called the Queen and she agreed to let you take longer on your trip, if that made you feel safer. She seems like a kind person, from what you’ve heard.

You’re left alone, and you sit down in the silent home. You suppose Sans is looking for Flowey, or working, perhaps? You still don’t know what his job is, but Papyrus said he’s meant to escort you too. He must be working for the Queen like him. There’s so much you still don’t know about them. Still, you wish you had woken up in his arms. You can’t help being awfully corny.

As you look for your phone inside your bag, you find an old journal and an idea comes to you. You hope it doesn’t come to it, but if the same happens again and you wake up back in the beginning, you’ve got to make sure you’re not forgetting anything. How would Sans feel if, somehow, you didn’t remember him when you woke up? Besides, it’s a test for your bag’s time-travelling-repelling capabilities.

You don’t remember using this journal before, and it’s evident once you open it and there are only white pages. Why do you have this in your bag? You take out a pencil case, and open the first page to begin writing. Oh… _that’s_ why you have this here. You turn to the next page, ignoring what you previously wrote, and begin sketching the skeleton brothers. Papyrus’ armor is not easy to draw, too many details, and Sans’ grin is not easy to convey either. It ends up looking like a cartoon, but it will have to do. You draw Flowey too, and its horrific mutations that came when he absorbed human souls. 

Then, you put your pink pen to the paper. Every time you die, a new timeline is created… a new dimension, with new possibilities. You have to keep a record.

 

**A1**. _RUINS: woke up in here. Skeletons saved me from Flowey. Woke up in a house in the Ruins. Left the house, Sans took me to the place with the butterflies. We left for Snowdin the next day._

_SNOWDIN: Flowey attacked on the road to Snowdin, Papyrus was hurt. I fell. Found cabin in the woods, where I got a notebook. Met a kid on my way to Snowdin. There was dust on the road. Fought with Grillby (a fire monster) and Undyne saved me. Stayed two nights with the skeleton brothers. Kissed Sans._

_WATERFALL: Papyrus left to look for Undyne, that night he wasn’t picking up his phone. He was trapped by Flowey. I left to find him, Sans found me in Waterfall, we found Flowey. We died._

 

**A2**. _RUINS: Woke up here again, same clothes, everything as before. No one remembers anything, just me and Sans. We left the Ruins that night._

_SNOWDIN: Sans kissed me back._

 

You spend the rest of the day writing down what you’ve learned, drawing the monsters you’ve met… you might’ve spent a longer time drawing Undyne. No one will know. You use many pages sketching Sans to the best of your artistic ability, to varying degrees of success. There’s something about him you can’t place in paper, how he can go from harmless to frightening in a second, the glint of his eyes in his skull, the subtleness of his expressions.

It’s lunch time when Papyrus comes home and makes hte spaghetti. After eating he tells you he’s going to meet Undyne for practice. “THERE’S NO ONE BETTER TO TRAIN WITH! SHE TAUGHT ME A LOT, AND THANKS TO HER I’M THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! I’VE GOT TO KEEP MY FIGHTING TECHNIQUES SHARP, I CAN’T LET MY ADMIRERS DOWN” with that, he’s gone to Waterfall. As you watch him leave there’s an uneasy sensation plaguing your heart, but there shouldn’t be anything to worry about…right?

You take a nap, waking up to the feeling of someone petting your hair.

“hows dream land treating you?” You smile, sitting up and giving him a little kiss. “Pretty good, I must be dreaming right now”

“…where’ve you been all day?”

He’s sitting with you, and you sit on his lap again, cuddling him. “i couldn’t find the flower, but I found the human soul in the ruins. it was pretty well hidden. i took it somewhere safe”

You hum in agreement, feeling safe now that the soul is out of Flowey’s reach, and then you’re kissing Sans, lazily, delighting in his presence and his warmth. You two kiss losing track of time, sweet kisses turning passionate, and hands finding their way under clothes. He lets a moan escape when you touch the rim of his ribs, and you do it again, making him hide his face in your neck.

“youre really into this, huh?” his voice is ragged, trying to slow down his breathing. “Of course I am. I want you” You have no idea where this confidence is coming from, but you don’t care. You’re not really thinking anymore. You just want to explore his body, touch his bones, make sure he’s there with you.

He’s blushing, looking at you surprised. Was that too bold? “do you mean…you wanna jump my bones?” You snort, and when you hold his ribs with force he grunts. “I would like that, yes. Do you want to?” You’re humping his bones, biting your lip. You’re incredibly turned on. It’s been _years_ , and you want this, you need this.

“are you sure? dont get me wrong, im all in for some fun, but… isnt it too soon?” He’s holding you in place, looking into your eyes. You trace the side of his skull, the touch light enough to give goosebumps, your other hand still in his ribs, caressing him. “I want this” He kisses you, moaning loudly as your fingers pass through his rib bones, but you’re interrupted when a ridiculous song begins playing. You’ve got to be kidding.

“shit, give me a sec” He answers his phone, talking with Papyrus while you caress his neck bones. He’s trying to keep his voice monotone, failing spectacularly when you lick his neck. He hangs up, throwing the phone on the couch and kissing you hard, his hand on your ass. “hes staying with Undyne tonight” His grin looks comically evil, lights going out of his eyes. “nobodys gonna hear you scream”

You stand shocked for a moment, and return his evil smirk. “Not if I make you scream first”

You’re making your way to his bedroom, when he stops in his tracks and asks you to wait, running past the door. You can hear the shuffling of clothes and sheets, a loud thump and swearing coming from inside. You can’t help but laugh at it. He wants to clean up for you! That’s both parts hilarious and cute. Still, you appreciate the gesture.

He lets you in, and his room looks like a trash war zone. There’s a lamp on the floor, a pile of socks on the corner, and standing proudly in the middle of the room, a treadmill. You’ve got to admit, the self-sustaining tornado of trash is a novelty, but you’ve seen worse. His bed looks made in a hurry, with creased sheets and one lonely pillow. It’s dark inside, only the soft white light of sunset in Snowdin coming through the window. He looks a little nervous, and you can’t blame him. You’re nervous too. You kiss him, getting his coat off and letting it fall to the floor.

You push him to the bed, he’s sitting and you’re straddling his hips, feeling strangely confident in taking the lead. You two kiss, slowly, feeling each other’s body and letting your arousal build up in anticipation. You push up his white shirt, taking it off, and stare at his naked bones. He’s…very much a skeleton. “like what you see?” he chuckles with a deep voice, and you’re passing the tips of your fingers over his ribs. Being so close to a skeleton feels strange, the emptiness inside his ribcage and the warmth of his bones, but when you look at him it doesn’t matter. It’s not just a skeleton, it’s _Sans_. “I love it” you say, and he’s looking at you with hunger in his eyes.

You’re going to take off your dress, when you stop in your tracks. If Sans is all bones…nothing but bones…what are you doing here, exactly?

How are you going to do this?                                                              

He looks uncomfortable as you stay there, just looking at him with a furrowed brow. “is everything ok?… we can stop if you want to” You shake your head, and look at him intently. You hope you don’t sound too weird saying this. “Sans, how do skeletons have sex?”

He’s almost laughing “like every other monster?” You look at him in confusion, and he seems to understand what’s going through your mind. “is it different for humans?” Oh god.

After a long and mostly awkward talk about anatomy, you’ve learned quite some stuff. Monsters don’t have any kind of genitals. You’re not sure how they’re born, but you’re confused and embarrassed enough for one day. As Sans explains it, they use magic to have sex, but you don’t completely understand how is it they do it. Thankfully, you remembered seeing Sans with a tongue before, and he tells you how he can make extra organs with his magic, like the tongue for tasting food. That gave you quite the bright idea.

After some explaining and a few rough sketches of human anatomy, the blue light is shining in his eye and a bright blue cock stands erect between San’s legs.

“is that alright?” You’re licking your lips, kneeling before him. You take his cock on your hand, staring at the glowing pre cum on the tip. You’re aching to have it in your mouth, quivering in anticipation. “We have to try it out” You lick the underside and Sans screams.

“Hah, I told you I would make you scream first” you’re grinning, pumping his cock and watching him writhing on the bed. He’s lost his words. You open your mouth over the tip, getting it inside slowly, tasting it, letting your tongue slide on it. He’s screaming out your name, fisting the sheets, sweating and trying to push himself deeper into your mouth. You hold him down, moaning with his cock halfway into your mouth.

“fuck, ah, i hadnt…ever…nggghh” you relax your throat and go all the way down. He moans long and deeply. He’s shaking.

This is exactly where you want him. Desperate, incoherent, under your control. You’re bobbing your head slowly, sucking and licking and biting softly the head. You feel powerful, confident, your underwear must be ruined by now. You think monster sex must be very different, because he’s acting like it’s his first time, barely containing himself. His moans are the most arousing sound you’ve ever heard.

You take his legs and push them over your shoulders, holding his hips to better control the rhythm. He’s gone lax on the bed, eyes closed, moaning with every turn of your tongue. You fasten the pace, touching his ribs, getting your hand inside his ribcage and touching his spine on the inside and he’s coming in your mouth with a deep moan.

You taste his cum but it barely has any flavor, you swallow easily. He’s opening his eyes and sees you licking the last of his cum on your fingers, making him groan.

“is this…how humans…do it?” his breathing is heavy as you get up on the bed, cuddling him. “It’s one way to have sex. I’ll show you more, if you’re up to it” You’re so satisfied by his pleasure you’re in no rush for him to reciprocate. Seeing him like this already has a fire burning in you, his taste on your lips, his frame shaking in the aftermath of his first human-like orgasm.

“heh… if this is the way you teach, id love to learn more from you” You’re smiling. He makes you feel so sexy, so in control. He brings out a confidence you wish you had outside the bedroom. You kneel beside him, taking off your dress and dropping it on the floor.

“I want you inside me”

His face blushes deep blue, smirk gone as he slightly opens his mouth, letting a bright blue tongue peek out. He throws you on the bed and he’s on top of you in an instant, licking your neck, bony hands exploring your body.

“youre so gorgeous… your skin is so soft, you taste so good, ah, fuck” his tongue is on your nipples, hand reaching your crotch and you’re moaning under him, holding his skull in place. You’re breathing heavily, shuddering, pushing up your hips into his hand to find more pressure, when he stands up and takes off your panties, shimming them down your legs and off onto the floor. He pushes your legs wide open, staring at your naked body. You bite your lip, and touch yourself. You want him to see you like this, with hunger in his eyes and a menacing smirk showing his sharp teeth.  

“Just…put it inside” You show him, and he’s holding your hips in place, the tip of his phantasmal cock on your entrance. “Go slow…” He’s pushing in, his cock feels smooth and slightly cold as you let out a deep groan, fisting the sheets under you and he’s all inside of you in seconds, filling you, making you squirm. You open your eyes to see his skull sweating, eyes closed, getting lost in the feeling.

He starts rocking his hips, slowly filling you time and time again, falling on top of you resting on his elbows. “it feels…so good…” He’s shaking, and you hold him close to you, clinging to his bones as he quickens the rhythm of his strides.

“shit, youre so good, being inside you feels so good… nhh… youre… so amazing” You kiss him, pushing up your hips to meet him halfway, the dark room filled with the sounds of moaning and the clash of your skin and his bones. It feels incredible, having him so close, his cock inside of you, his warm bones and cold dick and his bed that smells of him, the taste of his cum still on your tongue, you get lost in his empty eye and the single blue light tinting the room in shades of cobalt.

He’s coming, fucking you through his orgasm, and his face falls on your shoulder. You hold him through it all, whispering words of praise, caressing his spine and the back of his skull. When his breathing is back to normal, you kiss his cheekbone, and whisper to him “Bite me”

“…what?”

“Bite me. Bite my neck”

He opens his mouth and bites you carefully, applying pressure without breaking the skin. You take his hand and guide him to your crotch, showing him how to get you off. It doesn’t take long for you to come, screaming out his name and clutching his ribs.

He kisses you and, too tired for words, you stare at each other in the dark, the light in his eye disappearing as his cock vanishes. You give him a little peck on his mouth, and close your eyes, falling asleep in his arms.

 

One week later, you decide it’s been enough waiting. You continue to the Capital, as Flowey hasn’t appeared and the human soul is safely kept away, you walk through the dark corridors of Waterfall. This time around, Papyrus is safe, guiding you through the labyrinth of caves with glowing gems and blue flowers. Like last time, Sans holds your hand, and you interlace your fingers.   

Papyrus is explaining how the roads would be easier to cross if Undyne hadn’t suplexed so many rocks in a fit of rage, and Sans waves at a shy monster hiding around the corner. You pass along a statue holding an umbrella, a melody seems to be coming from inside. It’s awfully familiar.

You’re in a corridor with plaques with shining letters, and Papyrus takes the chance to tell you about the tragic story of monsterkind. Sans lets your hand go and you stop to tie your loose laces, while he’s interrupting his brother with his usual puns. You stand up, looking at them with fondness. You’re happier than you’ve felt in a long, long time.

 

The serene sound of a distant music box…it fills you wi-There’s a terrible noise and rocks are raining over you, crushing you, you try to scream but you have no breath.

 

SAVE ERROR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You just can't get a break, can you?
> 
> Sans thought you were, like, 12. Just how much does he remember? It's hard to tell. And will be specified a future chapter, of course. 
> 
> If you find a meme somewhere in the text, it’s all my friend Alex’s fault. Meme shame him.   
> I hope you guys are enjoying my fic, it's fun and challenging to write, and I hope the sex scene is not too awkward. Goodness, don't you feel the need to make him beg? ;)
> 
> Upcoming chapters will contain smut, too. I'll be posting soon an extra scene that happens some time during that week in A2. Thank you guys for every kudo, every comment (you all have a special place in my heart) and for reading!


	7. EXTRA SCENE - Differences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an EXTRA SCENE that happens during that week in A2, the one you spend in the skeleton's home. It's mostly domestic, and it gives you some more background on both Reader and Sans.   
> It doesn't end in the usual 'save error' because it's not part of the main storyline, but is still canon to the story.  
> Next up is chapter 7! Enjoy some happiness while it lasts :)

The light coming through the window is too bright, but you refuse to open your eyes. Your head is foggy with sleep, you’re warm and cozy, and you yawn. There’s something poking your side, and your legs are trapped in tangled sheets. When you try to move, trying to get comfortable, you end up on the floor, falling on your face. You’re not a morning person. You’re the complete opposite, in fact, you loathe mornings, and this one is earning you a headache. You groan, trying to push up your body from the floor and untangle your legs, currently hanging from the bed. You want to punch the sun in the face. Finally you manage to untangle your mess of limbs and completely fall to the floor, and you consider staying there. Fuck being awake.

You start to remember last night’s events when you realize you’re buck naked. The carpet makes you itch in odd places, and you look up to the bed to see Sans peacefully asleep. This is definitely not the way you expected to wake up next to him. You had imagined something out of a romance novel: opening your eyes to see him staring at you, confessing feelings and secrets, next thing you’re kissing, maybe even have morning sex.

But you’re naked on the floor while Sans snores on the bed, completely oblivious to your fragile maiden-like fantasies breaking. Oh well. Real life is disappointing, big news. You climb up to the bed, rubbing the bump on your forehead. You stare at the ceiling, waiting for your headache to fade. That damn light is not helping. You’re asking him to get some curtains for god’s sake, as soon as he wakes up.

He snores quite loudly, you think. It’s not helping your headache, either. You look at him, lying on his back, bones softly moving with his breathing. You’ve learned to brush away the strangeness of this world, things like a skeleton breathing without lungs, but right now you’re _pissed_. This doesn’t make sense. How? How the fuck does he breathe? Just using ‘magic’ to explain it all is getting old, like a kid on a pink cap saying ‘internet’ every time somebody questions them. This whole world is so damn weird. You know you’re throwing a tantrum, but you’re thirsty, and just hit your head, and you died a little over a day ago… You need some air.  

You get up from the bed, and putting on his white shirt with ketchup stains you leave for the kitchen. You make it there despite stumbling down the stairs, and drink a refreshing glass of water. You discover a white dog under the tall sink, munching on a bone, and pet it. Could it be the one you saw at the ruins, that first timeline?

Feeling better, you make it back to Sans’ room and to his bed. With your headache gone you can appreciate the image of a naked Sans tangled in sheets, unknowing of your morning shenanigans. You lie down next to him, and take the time to closely observe him. His eyes are closed, with those strange skeleton lids that look quite soft. His jaw is far from an accurate human skeleton, with something akin to a mouth that opens and closes, giving him the ability to smile and eat, though he doesn’t need to move it to speak. His teeth are big and sharp, unlike Papyrus’ short and blunt ones. The color of his bones is different too, from a common skeleton. They’re a pristine white, and smooth to the touch, soft even.   

His breathing is slow as he happily sleeps the morning away. His ribcage is bigger and wider than a human’s, thicker bones moving up and down as he inhales and exhales. You run your fingers across his ribs, and place your palm open on his chest. You can feel his breathing, and something that seems like a heartbeat you can’t find the source of. You run your hands down his arms, his humerus, radius and ulna. They’re thicker than human bones, too, and his radius and ulna look more separated than they would usually be.

You take off the sheets and look curiously at his sacrum. You can’t resist passing your hand over the little bumps and holes, eliciting a soft moan from him. He seems to be quite sensitive. You cuddle closer to him, watching his body beginning to tremble from your caresses. You have to admit it, you’re both creeped out and fascinated. His body is so foreign to you, yet familiar from the days of anatomy drawing and biology class. You can’t help but feel a bit out of place, seeing your soft fleshy hand in contrast to his bones.

“thats the best way to wake up. whats the occasion?” Looking up at him, his eyes are still closed, but his mouth is smiling lazily. You give him a little peck, closing your eyes and you keep up caressing him.

“I’m glad you get to wake up nicely. I hit my head with the floor”

He’s laughing softly, his voice husky with sleep. “Hey, don’t laugh! You’ve got to get some curtains, or I’m not sleeping here again” you tell him mockingly, moving your hand faster feeling around his sacrum. He lets out another moan, and encases you in his arms. “i like your convincing tactics. if you keep this up, i might let ya redecorate” You’re giggling, hiding your face in his neck, feeling safe and warm.

He takes your hand, stopping your motions, and when you look up at him he kisses you. Now this is more like it, you think. The kind of morning you expected. You sigh contently, opening your eyes to find him looking at you, bright white eyes staring dreamily into yours. “lets try something. do you trust me?”

You nod, and lie still as the blue light appears in his eye. This time, there’s no ghostly cock appearing between his legs. It’s just his magic circling both of you in a dim aura of azure, and you can feel your body relaxing. You feel Sans’ heartbeat stronger than before, and you’re feeling his ribs again, making him shiver violently. You’re kissing him, softly moving your lips and feel as his hands are everywhere on you. You can feel an energy rocking into your core, but it’s not shaking you, just making you feel even calmer.

You melt down in his arms, so warm and cuddly, as he keeps kissing you and running his hands over your body. In a few minutes he stops, and the blue is gone. You smile at him, but he’s sighing in what seems like resignation.

“What happened?”

“it didnt work” You still don’t understand, and wait for him to elaborate. He looks self-conscious, evading your eyes and keeping to himself. “Sans. It’s ok, just tell me”

“i wanted to show you how monsters have sex. but, doesnt work with humans. just figured that out”

He seems brought down and you kiss him, trying to cheer him up. That was monster sex? That strange magic aura, and cuddling? He’s right, it didn’t work one bit. “I’m sorry we can’t do it like that. I wanted to find out what it feels like, but… we can still do it the human way” He hums in agreement, kissing you again and petting your hair. He sighs, holding you closer. “Even if we didn’t have that…”

You sit up, and look straight into his eyes. You need him to understand this. “Even if we couldn’t have sex at all, I… I would still want to be with you, you know?” His smile grows fonder, and you’re dragged into a mess of bones and sheets, getting a rain of kisses over your face and then you’re laughing as he’s trying to tickle you. It quickly becomes a tickle war, bony fingers digging into your sides and you can barely contain the frenetic laughter escaping you. You try to fight back, try to find a spot in his bones that can tickle to no avail. “Dammit, Sans, stay still so I can tickle your funny bone!” He’s laughing out loud, and you’re falling to the floor, face first, for the second time this morning.

“shit, sorry, are you ok?” He tries to calm his laughter and help you up, but your hand slips from his and you fall again, making him chuckle louder.

You groan, glaring at him. “Sans…I don’t find this situation to be _humerus_ ” And you’re both laughing, all of his previous frustration fading away and the pain on your forehead is no matter to you, as long as you get to see Sans laugh like this. Like he hasn’t got a care in the world. Something inside you flutters, and you’re sure your blushing is not because of laughter.  

“SANS! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING SO EARLY?” Papyrus enters the room suddenly opening the door, making you jump in surprise.

“hey bro. how was your pajama party” Sans is casually sitting on his bed, grinning at Papyrus while you’re left a blushing mess on the floor. Fuck.

“IT WASN’T A PARTY! IT WAS A VERY SERIOUS TRAINING SESSION, WHICH BECAME A COOKING CLASS, AND THEN A PAJAMA PARTY. OH, HUMAN! GOOD MORNING! WAIT A SECOND… YOU’RE WEARING SANS’ DIRTY CLOTHES”

You push further down Sans’ shirt over your naked body, eyes wide open in nervousness. You look over at Sans, who’s just grinning cheekily. What, he’s not saying anything?

“I SEE! WOWIE, YOU TWO HAD THE SEX! CONGRATULATIONS! THAT’S ONE GOOD EXAMPLE OF MONSTER HOSPITALITY. BUT… HUMAN, AREN’T YOU TOO YOUNG?”

You want the earth to open up and swallow you right there. Given that you don’t spontaneously combust before that happens. “theyre grown up, Papyrus. are you making breakfast?”

“YES! I’LL BE MAKING SOMETHING SPECIAL, TOO! I’LL SEE YOU DOWNSTAIRS!”

Papyrus leaves the room and you’re too mortified to even look at Sans. At least he took it quite well, you suppose. You’re pulled off the floor and onto the bed by a laughing Sans, who seems to be delighted by your mortification. You pout at him, only making him laugh even harder. “were you worried about him knowing?”

You sigh, hiding your face in your hands. “No, but I wasn’t expecting him to find out like this. Does he always barge into your room without knocking?”

“yeah, but i can ask him to be give us some privacy. but he doesnt mind, really, you can go around the house wearing only my shirt if you want”

Just to imagine being around Sans and Papyrus mostly naked all day, wearing only Sans’ shirt… “I don’t think I could do that. Nope”

He kisses your cheek, pushing you to lie back with him. “i wouldve liked that, tho. i like to see you wearing my clothes” There’s something in his voice that makes your skin tremble, and you kiss him long and slowly. “I’ll get you a deal. I’ll wear more of your clothes, but you’ve got to wash them, Sans. I think this one used to be white?”

He chuckles, entangling his legs with yours. “sounds like a deal to me”

When you’re finally properly dressed, after your morning make out session, you go to the kitchen to find Papyrus in an oversized apron that says “Best Royal Guard”. He’s taking something out of the oven, and you sit down to wait for your food. Sans takes a bottle of ketchup from the counter and sits down next to you, holding your hand under the table. He’s drinking the condiment, staining his shirt again. Yep, that’s not gonna change anyday soon.

“IT’S READY! A SPECIAL BREAKFAST FOR A SPECIAL DAY! NOTHING BUT THE BEST, A FAMILY RECIPE PASSED DOWN GENERATIONS OF SKELETONS AND BEAUTIFULLY PREPARED BY MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!”

He’s bringing it to the table with huge oven mitts, and you stare at it in disbelief. It’s an enormous quiche, with a beautiful golden color, but the spinach on the top spell out…oh god. ‘CONGRATS ON THE SEX’. You don’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Sans cuts out a piece and serves it on his plate, bathing it with ketchup, while you’re left staring in shock. He squeezes your hand, rubbing his thumb over your palm, and you break out of it. You thank Papyrus for the breakfast, and serve yourself a piece. It’s…the best thing Papyrus has ever cooked for you. You’re sure of it now. Your life with the skeleton brothers will be everything but boring.

Sans leaves soon after to look for the next human soul, and Papyrus leaves you with a stereo in case you feel like listening to music, after you tell him you don’t feel like going out just yet. You listen to some of Papyrus’ CDs, but his eclectic music tastes are not very appealing to you. You go get your bag, as you remember seeing an old CD inside. You find it, it’s a little damaged and not your favorite kind of music, but it’ll have to do. There’s not much on TV besides the sexy rectangle.

This music brings you memories of old times, back when you still had some hope in you and the world didn’t seem as terrible and frightening. Being here with the skeletons, a second chance after all of your mistakes, gives you a hope you’re not yet ready to accept. You want to make something for them, inspired by Papyrus’ special breakfast. It’s been a long time since you’ve last baked anything, but what’s well learned cannot be forgotten.

You rummage through the kitchen, finding enough ingredients to make some cookies. You do your hair up in a bun, don an apron and begin to work on your creations. When the dough is ready, you get a knife and cut it in different forms, making bones and skulls, dogs and a bottle of ketchup. The cookies bake quickly and you’re decorating them with colored icing, moving to the beat of your CD the whole time. You’re getting excited enough that you’re singing the lyrics.

“Porque sí, porque sí, porque en esta vida no quiero pasar un día entero sin ti”

“hey, te ves muy animada. que cocinas?”

You jump in fright when you hear that strange voice speaking to you. You turn around, and Sans is picking up one of the cookies that have already cooled down. Was that your imagination? “Hi Sans… I was making cookies. Made some ‘ketchup’ ones for you”

He’s muching on a bone shaped cookie, and winks at you. “estan muy buenas, pero les falta catsup”

Your mouth is wide open and you push your jaw up to close it. What. The. Hell. “Sans, did you just speak spanish?!”

“asi se llama este idioma?”

How is this possible? He doesn’t even know it’s called Spanish, how can he speak it? He’s gathering more cookies on his arms and sits down at the table, giggling at your obvious bewilderment. “its not a big deal. monsters can speak any language they listen”

“How do you even do that?!......... it’s magic, isn’t it?” You’re face palming and he’s loudly chuckling while he eats your cookies. You turn down the volume, and keep on adding the last touches to the cookies. You’re not sure you’ll ever get used to monsters.

“i liked your music. you say its in spanish?”

You sigh, cleaning your hands on a rag. “Yeah. It’s my natal language. But your voice sounds weird when you speak it, too creepy” You stick out your tongue at him, and he joins you by the counter. “where are you from?”

You’re not sure you want to answer him. You’re not sure you want to remember. “Far away. But it doesn’t matter, I’m not going back” He hugs you from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder. You stay in silence for a moment before he speaks again. “im glad youre here”

You turn around and kiss him, shutting your eyes tight, trying not to cry. You want to share who you are with Sans, where you’ve come from, but the pain is still too close to the surface and you’re risking it breaking out. Maybe you can share something, even if it’s little by little, before you can tell him what brought you here. You think he’ll understand. When you break the kiss and look at him, you can see a stain of red in his skull and you still, thinking back to the blood oozing from the cracks on his skull. 

But it’s nothing like that. You had some icing on your face, and it’s now on his after you kissed him. You laugh and wipe it off him, only to make it worse. “Shit, let me just…” You lick his jaw, cleaning him off the icing, and he hums deeply. The colored sugar feels so familiar on your lips. That reminds you of…

“You’re a skeleton”

“….uh, yes?”

“You’re a skeleton!”

“i thought you had noticed that by now”

You’re laughing and he’s staring at you like you’ve gone mad. “No, I mean, you’re a skeleton! With that icing on you, you look like a sugar skull!”

“youre giving me pet names now? thats so cute” You snort, and kiss him happily. “It does sound cute, but it’s not a pet name. It’s a candy for a traditional celebration. Hold still” You hold his jaw and take the icing on the other hand, applying patterns of flowers and diamonds to his face. You leave the red for the green icing, making designs around his eye sockets, thin as lace. In a manner of minutes his face is full of colorful icing, and he looks like the best sugar skull you’ve ever seen.

“Now you can look” you take him to the bathroom so he can admire your masterpiece in the mirror, standing beside him, smiling shyly. “this looks amazing! I bet you just want to eat me now” He winks at you, and you can’t help but laugh. “Of course I want to, you look delicious. I think I’ll be eating you out very soon” You return the wink, trapping him against the wall. You lick the sugar off his bones slowly, closing your eyes and tasting him. He sighs happily, melting into your arms, and you’re getting your hands under his clothes.

You’re back at the kitchen after a quickie, thankful Papyrus hasn’t come back home just yet. You start to clean off the mess you left after making the cookies, most of them already eaten by Sans. Strangely enough, he didn’t put any ketchup on them. He’s sitting down, his feet up on the table, with his eyes closed and humming along to your music. “in what kind of celebration do you eat skulls made of sugar?”

“Oh, it’s for day of the dead”

He stays silent for a while, as you’re cleaning off the kitchenware. “do the dead come back to life or… ?” You snort loudly. “It’s not zombie day!” You can’t help but laugh. “It’s a day to remember the loved ones we’ve lost, to honor those that came before us. Do you have anything like that in the underground?”

You look back to him, and the lights in his eyes are gone. “Sans?”

“we dont. we dont talk about our loved ones once theyre gone” You’re surprised. They just… pretend they never existed? You can’t help but feel sad for them. It’s never good to forget the ones you’ve loved and lost, even if it hurts to remember. They form a part of you.

The next day both Papyrus and Sans stay home with you, and you begin the morning watching bad movies with them. You watch a monster movie, cuddling Sans under the blanket with Papyrus on your other side, and the sense of humor in the movie is completely lost on you. You’re left thinking about what happened yesterday, how sad Sans looked after that, more tired than you’ve ever seen him. You wish you knew some way to cheer him up.

Well, if there is one thing you’re sure of, is that the way to the heart is through the stomach. He looked pretty happy with your cookies, and you want to cook something sweet for him today too. When you remember the day of the dead, you suddenly know just what to make.

“Do you wanna help me make some dead bread?”

Papyrus looks perplexed. “HUMAN, HOW DO YOU KILL A BREAD? AND WHY DO YOU NEED OUR ASSISTANCE IN DOING SO?”

You explain to them that it’s just a soft, sugary bread, adorned with bread bones on top. That makes Papyrus excited and he asks you to teach him immediately, in order to expand his ‘skeleton related’ recipes list. It turns out cooking with Papyrus is pretty fun, but you have to show him how to stir without dropping half the batter to the floor, and handling the kitchenware is a little tricky with bony hands. Soon enough the bread is in the oven, and you take your apron off while you wait for the heat to work its magic.

“HUMAN, YOU SHOW UNPRECEDENTED CULINARY TALENTS, YOU MUST BE A PRODIGY! WE NEED TO EXCHANGE SECRETS OF THE MASTERY OF OUR ART! NYEH HEH HEH”

He looks so happy, cackling like he always does with that particular laugh of his. Sans just dozed off while you two were cooking, and he’s only now opening his eyes. You’re feeling happy here and now, spending time with them, in this homely kitchen with too many bones lying around. You’re so happy you could regain your friendship with Papyrus, his presence gives you the optimism you dearly lack. “I’m no prodigy, but I’ve been cooking ever since I was 7. It’s just a matter of practice”

Both skeletons seem pretty surprised at your remark. “SINCE YOU WERE SEVEN? BUT THAT’S SURELY THE MARK OF A PRODIGY! EVERY OTHER CHILD THAT AGE IS STILL PLAYING WITH BABY PUZZLES!”

You don’t think it’s a big deal, and tell them that. You were just helping your mom cook. You pick up the white dog that comes here sometimes, petting its soft hair. “BUT IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO LET A CHILD THAT YOUNG IN THE KITCHEN!”

“I think it’s a good age to begin with the most basic, like peeling vegetables and stuff like that. How old were you when you began, Paps?”

“OH, I WAS 27”

……..What. “Papyrus…..how old are you?”

“I’M 35!!!”

You need to sit down. You drop the dog and it squeals when it meets the floor, thankfully landing on its tiny paws. You could have sworn Papyrus was just out of his teenage years, but he’s over ten years older than you. You sit and hold your heads in your hands, in the middle of an awkward silence. “hey, why the face? are you ok?”

You almost don’t want to ask. “Sans…. how old are you?” He looks at you with concern, hands in his pockets, uneasy grin growing bigger. “im 45… is it that big of a surprise?” Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. You’re sleeping with a middle aged skeleton. It’s kind of funny how you’re more concerned about his age than the fact that he’s made of bones, but you had already accepted that fact and only now you feel like a kid at their side. You’re laughing nervously, and they’re staring at you in confusion. Papyrus assumes a dramatic pose, inflating his chest and placing both hands on his hips.

“HUMAN, I KNOW YOU MUST BE SHOCKED. I LOOK TOO MATURE FOR MY AGE, I ADMIT, AND TO HAVE MADE IT AS A ROYAL GUARD SO YOUNG! YOU MUST BE IMPRESSED”

Ok wait you can’t accept this. Papyrus CAN’T be 35, you just know that. There’s got to be something tricky in here. Maybe it’s another difference between monsters and humans? You stand up to take out a notepad and pen that were on a drawer. This has to make sense. “I think human and monster ages are not the same. I got a few questions”

Thirty minutes of scribbling down numbers, calculations, and guessing some kind of method to translate ages from one species to the other, and you’re finally breathing normally. Monsters live longer than humans, and become of age at 33. With that basis, you find out Papyrus is equivalent to 19 years old, and Sans to 24. Thank god. You would have a major freak out if they really were middle aged.

“This way, if I was a monster I would be… 40 years old” You can hear Sans sighing in relief. When you first told them you’re actually 22 Sans was uncomfortably still, you bet he was thinking about you like a child again. But it’s natural, because in monster ages 22 is like a human 12 year old. Papyrus just laughed out loud at your age.

“YOU WILL BE MY LITTLE SIBLING NOW! WOW, I ALWAYS WANTED A YOUNGER SIBLING!”

“Papyrus, I’m older than you”

“NOT IN MONSTER AGES, YOU’RE NOT. HMM…I’LL HAVE TO BABY PROOF THE HOUSE”

You sigh as Sans laughs at you. The bread looks ready, and you stand up to take it out of the oven. “hey, dont get near there! you could get burned” Papyrus takes the oven mittens from your hands, taking the bread out himself. “THAT’S RIGHT, NO COOKING EITHER! YOU’RE TOO YOUNG, HUMAN. YOU CAN INJURE YOURSELF WITHOUT SUPERVISION”

Sans almost falls from his chair, laughing at Papyrus comment, and you swear there’s smoke coming out of your ears. “I’m not a kid! You guys are terrible” You stick out your tongue at them, and Papyrus pinches your ear. “NOW, NOW. YOU’VE GOT TO LEARN GOOD MANNERS!”

You end up wrestling Papyrus for the baking pan, as he’s holding it too high for you to reach, and you try to climb him but end up with your fingers burned when you touch the hot pan. All the while Sans is crying from laughter, leaving you to fend for yourself. Eventually you eat the bread, after Paps heals your fingers and Sans stops laughing long enough to wink at you, smug grin on his face. They’re both terrible.

It’s been two days. It’s early evening, and you’re lying on Sans’ bed with him. You took the time to make his room a bit more inhabitable, dirty socks now clean and in their drawer, the lamp has a new lightbulb, but there was nothing you could do for the tornado of trash. Sometimes, the white dog enters Sans’ room and hops onto the tornado, swirling around for a while. You tried to help it out, but it just jumped back in. Seems like it does it for fun. You looked at its tiny ID to find its owner, but it only said ‘Toby’. Seems fitting for this house, a mysterious dog for a mysterious pair of brothers.

Sans is slowly moving the tip of his fingers on your skin, on your hips, your stomach, your chest. He likes to take his time feeling your body where your bones are closer to the skin. You breathe slowly, feeling calm and comfortable in his arms. You’re closing your eyes, breathing in his scent. You feel happy.

He takes your necklace in his hand, looking closely at the stone. “why are you always wearing this?” You open your eyes, meeting his gaze. He’s got a little smile, and he’s caressing your cheek now. You feel like you can trust him.

“My mother gave it to me”

He nods, kissing your cheek and checking out the stone again. “its pretty. i like the way it shines when you look closer” You chuckle “You like it because it shines blue, like your magic. Heh, now it’s gonna remind me of you when I see it”

“good. wouldnt want you to forget me” He kisses you, holding you closer, fingers sliding through your hair. There’s an intensity to his kiss that’s seldom there, unlike the hungry kisses when you’re about to have sex, or the sweet kisses when you make him laugh. In that moment you understand. You’re the first one to remember, not only the first human, but the first person in the underground. If there have been many resets before, where no one could remember except for him… how lonely that must’ve been. You kiss him harder, holding his skull in your hands, trying your best to tell him that you won’t forget, and you won’t let him be alone again.

You’re both panting, staring into each other’s eyes.

“it’s a good thing you have that necklace. ill have to thank your mom someday” You freeze and he notices, looking at you for some explanation. You sit up, resting your back against the wall.

“She’s dead”

He looks so sorry, knowing he just reached a touchy subject. He sits next to you, holding your hand. You sigh, and rest your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes. You feel safe with him. “you said it was your tradition to remember. does… does it help?”

You think about it. Does it ease the pain in your chest to remember the ones you’ve lost? Is it good to reopen old wounds? “Nothing helps. But, at least when you remember, it’s like they’re still with you. Somehow”

He nods, and starts petting your hair. “what do you like to remember?” You think about it. There are so many memories, but never enough. You can’t choose only one. “I like to remember how it felt to be loved. To have someone care about you, if you eat or not, if you’re sick, if you cry… I like to remember how she cooked for me, and the books she gave to me”

He puts his arms around you, getting you in a warm nest of bones. He kisses your hair, thumbs running circles on your back. You miss her so much. She was your rock, the one to drag you out of every dark hole you got into time and time again, the one to push you to achieve something, the one who believed in you. But that was a long time ago.

“Papyrus was still a teen when we moved to Snowdin. we used to live in the capital before” You can feel his ‘heartbeat’, and stay still listening to him. “we lived with our dad. but, one day he was gone, and i couldnt afford the rent. this house used to be our grandparent’s, and it was awful. there were leaks on the ceiling, mold grew everywhere, but we didnt have any other place to stay”

He lifts up your face and gives you a sweet, little kiss. “i used to have many odd jobs to take care of my brother and fix the house. in retail, selling hotdogs, stuff like that. i wanted to do the best for him, but soon… i gave up. i missed dad. i felt guilty about it, and we never spoke of him, of course”

He takes a pause, closing his eyes, his sad smile growing bigger. “i thought Papyrus needed me to take care of him, but i needed him more. i still do. its nice to have someone call you out on being lazy, even if nothing could be further from the truth” He chuckles, and you drag him close, kissing his forehead. You hold him, and your breathing melts together.

A few days later Papyrus decides it’s time to go. You’re nervous, but Sans assures you that Flowey won’t be a problem. You feel a little apprehensive, but as soon as you leave the house your fear is gone. You really needed fresh air, no matter how good spending all that time with Sans has been. You run across the snowy road, hiding behind the tall pine trees as Papyrus chases you. You’re giggling in your hiding place when Papyrus comes close, and jump when there’s a ‘boo’ whispered into your ear.

“Sans! You scared me!”

“really? I thought a skeleton saying boo wouldnt scare anybody. too old school, right?”

“THERE YOU ARE! HUMAN, WHY WERE YOU HIDING?”

You take your arms from behind you, holding two snow cubes. “Because of THIS!” You throw them at Paps, and the battle begins once more. You’re enjoying the fresh air, even if you hate the cold running around and laughing makes you so happy you forget it. You run for the trees again to take shelter, and look from afar how Sans takes the snow cubes Paps throws at him, without trying to fight back. You feel suddenly alienated, in this strange world where you play in the snow with two living skeletons.

They’re so different from you… their physical forms, their culture. There’s a twinkle on your chest, and you can see the sunlight reflecting on your necklace, shining blue. You think of Sans’ magic, of his skull covered in icing, of midnight confessions and how genuinely happy he sounds when you make him laugh. Your heart skips a beat, and you smile.

Yes, they’re strange to you. But so are you to them, a foreigner in their world. In the end, you have so much in common that you can meet in the middle. You walk to them, snow in your hands, and you’re sure you only land a blow on Sans’ skull because he lets you.


	8. COVER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys! not an update. I've been awfully busy, between my birthday, my brother's bday and my friend's bday. Too many birthdays haha. In good news! I got a new pen tablet and I'll be making now fanart to go with the story.  
> I'll be posting everything in my tumblr, tagged as #Sadly Nothing fic  
> Enjoy the cover! :)

Chapter 7, "Many First Times", will be ready soon :)


	9. it's been 84 years

What's up everybody!

It's been FOREVER. Just wanna know, would anybody like for this fic to be finished?  
I still have all the notes, it'd be a matter of writing a few more pages and that'd be it.

What do y'all think? Please leave a comment! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol literally every single author is like "oh! life happened! i finished school then moved states had 3 children conquered the Arctic and opened a nail salon, sorry guys!"   
> I'm not gonna bore you with that BS but if you'd like to know yeah feel free to ask


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